Finance Bill

Chris Bryant Excerpts

Tuesday 6th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I want to say a word or two about the process of the Finance Bill.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Will the Chief Secretary give way?

[Danny Alexander]

No, I want to make some progress.

The Finance Bill before the House today seeks to ensure that the Government’s key tax priorities as set out in the emergency Budget are put on the statute book as swiftly as possible. This year, however, we face exceptional circumstances owing to the timing of the general election, which resulted in a curtailed Finance Bill following the previous Government’s March Budget and a relatively short timetable between our emergency Budget and the summer recess. There remain a number of minor and technical measures that we inherited from the previous Government and which must be legislated for before 2011. We shall therefore introduce those measures in a further Finance Bill in the autumn. Consistent with our aim of greater scrutiny of tax legislation, again set out in the Budget, we shall publish all those measures in draft for consultation before the end of July.

[Chris Bryant]

The right hon. Gentleman says that he is thinking about a derogation for rural areas in relation to VAT on fuel. May I point out that not a single house in the Rhondda is more than half a mile from a farm, so will he include the Rhondda in a derogation not only from VAT on fuel but from everything else as well?

[Danny Alexander]

The hon. Gentleman has misunderstood what is being discussed, which is no surprise, given the previous Government’s attitude to the idea, as the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) knows. We are not talking about a VAT derogation; the proposal relates to fuel duty.