REPEALS (Hansard, 17 July 1986)

§ Mr. MacGregor
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

§ Mr. Terry Davis
It is interesting that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury should move the Third Reading so briefly. I was prepared for him to make a longer speech. However, it was not necessary, because there is so little in the Bill. I am glad that, at long last, he has conceded that the Budget is irrelevant and that the Bill is uninteresting. There has been a tacit admission that we were right.
1312 However, some things have changed since the Budget and, therefore, the Bill—not least of which is the fall in the price of oil. We were told that the Budget and the Bill were based on the assumption that oil would be $15 a barrel for the rest of the year. It is now $9 a barrel. There has been a change in unemployment. Unemployment has risen by 60,000 since the Budget.
Everywhere we look we see that the Government's strategy is in tatters. I am not surprised that the Chief Secretary did not wish to draw attention to that by seeking to make a speech when he moved the Third Reading of the Bill.

§ Mr. MacGregor
It was not my intention not to make a speech, because I am proud of the Bill. I thought that the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Davis) wanted to make progress. As I said at the start of our Second Reading debate over two months ago, the Bill continues the Government's progress in reducing the burden of taxation and reforming the tax system, despite the constraint of an unprecedented fall in oil revenues. That achievement demonstrates the underlying resilience of the economy, the limited extent to which we now need to rely on the North Sea sector, and the value of the prudent financial and economic policies that we have pursued.
The main tax reduction in the Bill is the cut in the basic rate to 29p— the first such reduction since 1979. This improves incentives for over 20 million people of working age, and is a further step towards the long-term objective of a basic rate of no more than 25 per cent., to which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor referred in his Budget speech. The higher rate threshold changes have been structured in such a way that the benefit of this year's basic rate cut is concentrated around the middle of the income distribution.
The Bill incorporates a number of other important tax measures—the introduction of personal equity plans; the restructuring of stamp duty; and the introduction of a generous package of reliefs to encourage charitable giving. Those measures have been widely welcomed in the charity field. The change from capital transfer tax to inheritance tax, with the abolition of the immediate tax change on lifetime gifts between individuals, will be of particular benefit to family firms and family farms.
We had a very constructive and worthwhile Committee stage. During our scrutiny of the Bill, we made helpful technical changes and also a number of changes that went wider than that. Most hon. Members will be aware of those changes, and I shall not elaborate upon them. The House has considered a large number of technical and other amendments in response to representations that were made in Committee and it now wishes to make progress. The Bill reflects the Government's taxation objectives. It was thoroughly worth while in its original form, and it has benefited from careful and constructive consideration. Therefore, I commend it to the House.

'PART XI
BROADCASTING: ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS BY PROGRAMME CONTRACTORS
Chapter	Short Title	Extent of Report
1981 c.68.	The Broadcasting Act 1981	In section 32(9), the words "to amend sub-sections (4) and (5)".
		In section 34(2)(b), the words from "when the" to the end.
		In section 35(2)(a) and (b), the word "relevant".
1984 c. 46.	The Cable and Broadcasting Act 1984.	Section 40(3).