Rating (Empty Properties) Bill

I am grateful to the Minister for acknowledging that, in his Budget speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer accepted the submission made by my hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr. Osborne) and lowered corporation tax, though not quite to the level that he suggested. The Minister claims that he has never argued that property developers deliberately leave their properties empty, but in the debate on the Ways and Means resolution he said that"““there are many examples of companies who build offices, turn the lights on brightly to advertise them, stick a For Rent notice outside, hire a security guard and disappear to the Mediterranean.—[Official Report, 10 May 2007; Vol. 460, c. 363.]" That is an example of precisely the sort of behaviour that he says he did not describe, and which we said did not occur.