§ Mr. Craigenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reduction could be made in the present rate of employers' national insurance surcharge, both in absolute and percentage terms, if the existing 8 per cent. and 12½ per cent. rates of value added tax were replaced by a single positive rate of 10 per cent.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon:If the existing 8 per cent. and 12½ per cent. rates of value added tax were replaced by a single positive rate of 10 per cent., this would raise £700 million in a full year. This could be used to fiinance a reduction of just over one percentage point in the rate of the national insurance surcharge: equivalent to just under one-third of the current rate.