Business Rates

I take the hon. Lady's point on board. My question is not to businesses; I have no doubt that they will make their representations. I am asking Ministers whether they will do the work beforehand and understand whether the proposal is good or bad. All the evidence from transitional relief is that no work will be done to understand the impact on businesses. Ministers will simply say, "Here's your new rateable value—do you like it or not?" Lo and behold, companies seeing a benefit from the revaluation will say that it is fine and the many companies with an increase will have real concerns. I presume that they will all be ignored once again. I could have spent time on the retrospective ports tax, but we will have time in the House later this week to discuss that. That tax has put our nation's ports and many businesses involved with the car industry under pressure. Yet Ministers are pushing on, with their heads in the sand. The inflation-busting rises, the early withdrawal of transitional relief, the pressing ahead with a 2010 revaluation that will raise bills further for many businesses and the carrying on with a retrospective port tax that puts more pressure on the car industry and our ports businesses are all happening because Ministers have been asleep on the job, oblivious to how their business rate hike would kill businesses.