Business Rate Supplements Bill

I hugely enjoyed the speech made by the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) as he tried to dance around the reason for his party's line on this issue. The Conservatives are finding it difficult to keep a straight face. As we all know, this is about the fact that Boris Johnson is the Tory Mayor of London, that London is of vast importance to the Tories—it is also vastly important to us, of course—and that they do not want to risk a ballot in case it went wrong for them. I do not think that it would, but they do not want to take the risk, because they could be seen as the people who scuppered Crossrail, which I accept is of immense importance to London and to the nation as a whole. As the Minister who introduced Crossrail to the House, I was convinced of the argument for it. Obviously, it involves a significant amount of money. We would like more of that money up in the north, but I accept the reason for it. Like the hon. Gentleman, I am proud of my time as a councillor: I spent 16 years as one on my local authority. I appreciate that time and how it has influenced what I have done in Parliament. However, there is a clear bias here: it is okay for London, but not for the north. The argument seems to be that no scheme elsewhere in the country—I speak particularly from the point of view of the north-west—could qualify for such an exemption because it would not be on the scale of Crossrail. I find that argument bizarre. The other argument is that things are too far down the road for them to change, that all the work has been done before and that there should therefore not be a ballot. That cuts no ice with me. I do not understand the argument, because it clearly does not stack up. I come back to the point that the issue is that there is a Tory Mayor and that the scheme is so crucial that the Conservatives do not want there to be any risk to it. They are therefore prepared to forgo the principle for which they have been arguing in Committee. Three hours having elapsed since the commencement of proceedings on the programme motion, the debate was interrupted (Programme Order, this day). The Deputy Speaker put forthwith the Question already proposed from the Chair (Standing Order No. 83E), That the amendment be made. The Committee divided: Ayes 151, Noes 337.