§ 2. Mrs. Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham)What estimate he made in advance of the pre-Budget report of the annual cost to businesses of new (a) taxes and (b) regulations introduced since May 1997. [85248]
§ The Paymaster General (Dawn Primarolo)The Government's corporation tax changes introduced since 1997 have reduced business taxes. We now have the lowest corporation tax rates in the United Kingdom's history. The Government are committed to ensuring that regulations are fair and effective, balancing enterprise and encouraging productivity with protection for the individual.
§ Mrs. GillanI think that businesses listening to the Minister's reply will believe that she does not live in the real world. Is it not the truth that the burden of taxation and regulation on businesses has rocketed under this Government? From 1997 to the end of this Parliament, the director general of the CBI says that the Government will impose £47 billion of extra business taxation. That is equivalent to the entire gross domestic product of Wales. Is that not a shocking statistic? Does it not show that Labour is no friend to business in this country?
§ Dawn PrimaroloI am afraid that the hon. Lady, who I know is genuinely concerned about this issue, has incorrect information. For instance, she refers to the CBI's figures, but those figures, which are not a fair reflection, include the windfall levy—a manifesto commitment and an imposition to ensure that the taxpayer had a fair return on the public utilities after the previous Government had sold them off. If the hon. Lady looks at international comparisons, particularly those recently published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, she will see that, if we take corporate tax income and employers' social security contributions, Britain is in the third lowest category among all our competitors. Our tax system, with corporate taxes going down—30, 19 and 0 per cent.—is the correct way forward, and the hon. Lady needs to tell us how much lower the Conservatives would go than zero.
§ Mr. Bob Blizzard (Waveney)Without revisiting the arguments about the supplementary charge on corporation tax for the oil and gas industry—that is now a settled matter—will my right hon. Friend consider what can be done to encourage more new exploration for oil and gas, which had almost fizzled out before the 378 Budget? The energy review tells us that we need all the oil and gas that we can get. That is an important source of tax revenue, and undiscovered fields pay no tax at all.
§ Dawn PrimaroloI know that my hon. Friend takes a keen interest in the oil and gas industry. I also know that he is aware that the 100 per cent. tax relief and the abolition of royalties were introduced in recognition of the importance of continuing to ensure exploration for the national resource in the North sea for the benefit not only of those companies and jobs, but the taxpayer. I should like to reassure him that the Government continue to listen carefully to the industry and to follow developments closely to ensure that the changes that we have put in place deliver exactly the types of issue and investment that he wants to see, as do we.
§ Mr. Peter Lilley (Hitchin and Harpenden)Are the Government proud that, according to the OECD, taxes are now rising more rapidly in this country than in any other major country, eroding our competitive advantage? How is it that similar countries are able to cut taxes while improving their public services, but this Government have done the reverse?
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe right hon. Gentleman will see from the pre-Budget report that taxes fell in this country as a proportion of national income. Given that he is a keen reader of the OECD's reports, he will also know that the OECD says that we have the lowest barriers to entrepreneurship of any major economy and that Britain is one of the best places in the world to do business.