HC Deb 02 May 1990 vol 171 cc1026-7
12. Mr. Canavan

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to assess the popularity or otherwise of the poll tax.

Mr. Rifkind

Public opinion appears to be divided over support for the various forms of local taxation.

Mr. Canavan

Is the Secretary of State the only person in Scotland who fails to realise that the poll tax is as popular as the bubonic plague and that it is adding insult to injury for the Prime Minister and her lackeys to imply that the Scots are a nation of scroungers because—in, I believe, the right hon. Lady's own words—Scottish poll tax payers are being subsidised by the "marvellously tolerant English"? Now that even the Prime Minister is having second thoughts about the poll tax, will the Government accept the voters' verdict in tomorrow's elections, when the people of Scotland will have a wonderful opportunity to hammer another nail into the poll tax coffin?

Mr. Rifkind

I should be fascinated to know what the hon. Gentleman thinks of his own party's proposals, if he thinks that the poll tax is unpopular. He knows perfectly well that the roof tax commands less support in Scotland than any other system of local taxation. On the level of support for Scottish community charge payers, the hon. Gentleman knows that what my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said is factually correct, that Scottish local authorities raise on average 20 per cent. of the revenue that they require from Scottish community charge payers, whereas English local authorities raise an average of 30 per cent., which is one reason why English community charges are significantly higher than those in Scotland. I should have expected the hon. Gentleman to welcome that on behalf of his constituents who are having to pay that charge, which the hon. Gentleman is trying to avoid.

Mr. Malcolm Bruce

Will not the Secretary of State acknowlege that Scotland is witnessing the unedifying spectacle of the Government and the Labour party together offering the two most unpopular methods of raising taxation for local government? They are making up Mickey Mouse figures to try to discredit local income tax, which the right hon. and learned Gentleman knows to be fair. Its administrative costs are half those of collecting the poll tax, and it will release funds to be invested in local services. If income tax is a fine method of financing central Government, why not extend it to provide the same buoyancy and accountability in local councils?

Mr. Rifkind

On the central principle, government is financed by both income tax and value added tax, which ensures that all adults pay towards the costs of government. One of the fundamental deficiencies of local income tax is that almost half the electorate would not pay a penny towards the cost of local government. As part of his support for local income tax, has the hon. Gentleman pointed out to his constituents in Gordon that a person on only average earnings would pay a local income tax of £732, so a husband and wife on average earnings in his constituency would pay over £1,400? I suspect that the hon. Gentleman does not draw attention to those figures when campaigning for a local income tax in the Grampian region.

Mr. Gow

In the light of the popularity, real or imagined, of the community charge in Scotland, will the Secretary of State assure the House that the community charge will be introduced shortly into Northern Ireland?

Mr. Rifkind

That will be a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Rev. Martin Smyth

You will be aware, Mr. Speaker, that I have fought the case of Northern Ireland students and the community charge for some time. May I assure the Secretary of State that, despite the news that the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) has brought from east Belfast, that the poll tax would be popular, it is not popular among the parents of students studying in Scotland who, under the seamless robe of government, are paying the full taxation in Northern Ireland for local government? Will he bear that in mind as he examines changes?

Mr. Rifkind

It is worth remembering that under the old rating system or under the Labour party's roof tax, a student renting a flat would pay the full rates and would not have any automatic deduction. Under the community charge, for the first time, all students have an automatic deduction of 80 per cent. from their bills. That is very much to the advantage of students as a whole.

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