Business Rates

No, I am not going to give way. We have had enough from the hon. Gentleman tonight. In the Chamber, we all had a chance to support the private Member's Bill from my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Worcestershire, but that chance was thrown away by the Minister. In explaining why he would not support the Bill, he said that""we are not in a position to be certain that this choice"—" the private Member's Bill—""would deliver the highest and/or fastest benefit to small businesses from the package of wider options on the business rate."—[Official Report, 6 March 2009; Vol. 488, c. 1145.]" That was after all that time—all those months and almost a year after the recession began. The Government could have headed off the problem months ago. Ministers threw out that option, and instead the Chancellor finally announced the business rate deferral scheme to help businesses on 31 March—the week after local authorities had issued new annual business rate bills to companies throughout the country.