§ 12. Mr. Leighasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the current level and distribution of taxation.
§ Mr. MooreThe current burden of taxation is still too high. It is my right hon. Friend's intention to reduce it.
§ Mr. LeighWill not the estimated £1.5 billion of tax cuts portended by the autumn statement be a much more effective way of creating jobs than the estimated extra £4 billion which would have had to be taken from the job 788 creating private tax-paying sector if the rates of tax inherited from the Labour Government had remained unchanged.
§ Mr. SkinnerDoes the Minister accept that the Tory party philosophy from 1979 onwards has been to try to encourage the entrepreneur, through lower taxes at the higher levels, to provide jobs? Does he accept that this has failed, and that it has failed no more dismally than in the City where Johnson Matthey, the gold bullion dealers, were unable to sustain their reserves and have been bailed out by the Government to the tune of £75 million? Does that not prove that the whole of the Tory party philosophy—to support the entrepreneurs, and market forces—has failed miserably?
§ Mr. MooreNo, Sir. That is inaccurate. The Government were not involved in the sense that the Bank of England was involved. To the extent that the Government's tax policies have sought to reduce the burden on employers, which I gather was wanted by both sides of the House, the Government first had to reduce the £4 billion-plus increase in employer taxation which occurred between 1974 and 1979 through NIC and NIS, which has now already been reduced by £3 billion and which I should have thought was an added incentive to job creation.