Finance (No. 4) Bill

Debate between Graham Stuart and Alan Reid

Wednesday 18th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Stuart]

I fear that the hon. Gentleman may be right.

As I was saying, there is the supply chain and manufacturers, all of which are UK-based, then there is the sales channel and the deployment of the end product. Where? That is in rural and often coastal areas and areas with low incomes all over the country. What is the effect? It is to bring people, once they have made the capital investment in a caravan, to visit those areas week in, week out, bringing all sorts of economic benefits to areas that otherwise do not have a lot of industry to fall back on. When one looks at the industry in the round like that, one sees that it is special. Perhaps everybody says that, but we must consider how successful it is and who it serves. I have not even got to the point about who will be affected. We are talking about people who want to make a purchase of a home for about £30,000, not people who can switch easily to making a bricks-and-mortar purchase. When the tax-dodging, socialist, multi-millionaire candidate for the London mayoralty goes off to console himself by buying a cottage, he will not have to pay VAT, but when hard-working, decent people who like to pay their taxes go to get a slice of the decent life and have a stake in the countryside they will find that the caravan they want to buy at £30,000 now costs £36,000.

[Mr Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD)]

The hon. Gentleman is making his case eloquently. In my area, which is a large, rural, coastal area, there is a large number of caravan sites, which bring a lot of money into the local economy. He is right that this measure will affect large parts of the country. I fully support him in his new clause and I hope that the Government will have second thoughts.

[Mr Stuart]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend.