Finance (No. 4) Bill

Penny Mordaunt Excerpts

Monday 16th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)]

Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the measures in the Budget will raise five times more than changing the 50p rate?

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that. The figures in the Budget book, certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, show that in each and every year, money raised from the wealthiest in the land will dwarf by five times at least the cost of reducing the 50p rate to 45p. In doing that, we are also, for example, clamping down on the avoidance of stamp duty—something that was left as an open door by the previous Government. They seemed to be in favour of a tax system that encouraged avoidance, rather than clamping down on avoidance, ensuring that everyone pays their fair share and thereby raising five times as much money overall, which we can use, for example, to fund the massive cost of the substantial reductions in income tax for people on low and middle incomes in this country.