Finance Bill

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr. Gale. The Financial Secretary’s response on clause 8 was, in essence, ““We’ve consulted a lot and we’re really trying to get this right.”” His response on clause 7 was, ““We’re trying to arrange things in such a way that we can’t be accused of stifling the industry with a colossal tax burden, or of giving it inducements in the form of a tax bonanza that is unreasonable and unfair to other parties.”” I did not hear him give specific answers to the questions that I asked about the effect on jobs, investment, profitability and, in particular, the future of the super-casino issue. The Government’s proposals on super-casinos have now been rejected by the House of Lords.