§ 15. Mr. ConnartyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on the proposed VAT increases from senior citizens' organisations.
§ The Paymaster General (Sir John Cope)Treasury Ministers have received a number of representations.
§ Mr. ConnartyHas the Chancellor of the Exchequer received the kind of representations that most of us have received, which express the anger of pensioners who will have to pay 8p more in the pound for their fuel come April, and 17.5 per cent. more next year? Is any sense of pensioners' despair getting through to the Minister—despair at the arrangements that will enable those with money in the bank to pay their VAT in advance, thereby avoiding the burden that will fall on most pensioners?
§ Sir John CopeForestalling arrangements are a familiar part of changes in indirect taxation, and that applies in this case. However, 80 per cent. of the net yield of VAT on fuel will come from households with incomes of more than £15,000 a year, as a result of the massive package of benefit measures that we have also introduced.