HL Deb 21 March 2000 vol 611 cc135-6

2.36 p.m.

The Earl of Northesk

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether their tax policies are redistributive.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

My Lords, taxation policy is a matter for the Chancellor of Exchequer. As the noble Lord may be aware, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will this afternoon be delivering a Budget Statement in another place.

The Earl of Northesk

My Lords, I am bound to say that I did not anticipate much more of an Answer. Can the Minister confirm that net public investment has fallen in the past year? Does not that fact, taken together with the undoubted size of the Chancellor's war chest, show that the Government's tax policies, far from being based on the altruism of redistribution of Robin Hood, are more akin to a cross between the Artful Dodger picking our pockets by stealth and Scrooge hoarding the loot?

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

My Lords, the noble Earl may be at liberty to say in advance what the Leader of the Opposition will say in response to the Budget, but I am not in a position to anticipate what the Chancellor of the Exchequer will say. If I said something different, I would probably be fired; and if I got it right I would probably be fired.

Lord Newby

My Lords, does the Minister agree with Martin Wolf yesterday? In commenting on the latest effusion from Mr William Hague on tax policy, he described it as intellectually infantile?

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

This is safe ground! Yes, my Lords.

Lord Saatchi

My Lords, is the Minister aware of the recent admission by No. 10 that the tax burden is going up? In the light of that admission, what would the noble Lord say to your Lordships about his statement at col. 1246 of Hansard of 23rd July 1999: [The noble Lord. Lord Saatchi,] said that the tax burden has increased"? The Minister continued: Those claims about … tax are wrong". He added: Even if the claims were true—and they are not—there is no need for us to spend any more time on the issue". How does the Minister describe his statement?

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

My Lords, I would refer the noble Lord now, as I did then, to the pre-Budget report and the figures on which all the calculations of the tax burden are based.