That is absolutely right. I know that the hon. Gentleman went over that point in some detail during the last debate on this topic, and I would expect him to do so again.
On the point of the unrecoverable VAT—or of VAT in general—and the most recent history of the Government's appalling behaviour in relation to bingo, there is one qualitative difference between the debate today and that on 13 May. It is highly relevant to what we are talking about today. HMRC, as I understand it, has announced its intention to appeal the recent High Court decision, which followed the May and August VAT and duties tribunal that upheld Rank Group's respective claims that the inconsistent application of VAT on interval bingo and gaming machines contravened the EU principle of fiscal neutrality. We do not yet have a date for the Court of Appeal hearing, but it is likely to be next year.
That is vital, because the Government argue that the sector will benefit from the removal of VAT with an increase in gross profits tax to 22 per cent. The sector and I, however, will argue that that is false because the rulings that we have had so far would tend to indicate that the Government were never entitled to levy the tax or collect that revenue in the first place.
I do not want to pre-judge the appeal, but as the Government have lost the first two rounds—the VAT and duties tribunal and the original High Court case—it appears to me that there is no certainty that the Court of Appeal will come to a different decision next time round. That means that we are voting on a point of principle about unfairness and, more important, on the impact of the rise of GPT from 15 per cent. to 22 per cent. on bingo clubs, communities, jobs and tax yield. I would argue, given what we have seen in the recent history of the bingo sector, that the implications of that tax have the potential, at least, to be pretty nasty in communities around the country.
Let us gently remind ourselves that the sector provides good quality community facilities and safe environments, mainly for women, in mainly working-class communities. The bingo companies invest in the clubs in those communities. That entertainment and investment might well be lost if, as we have seen, more clubs over and above the 40 that have closed recently close in the next few years. The sector provides employment and, again, the jobs are mainly based in working-class communities. If those jobs are lost now, with unemployment rising, employment falling and vacancies coming down massively, those lost jobs might be lost for good. The Government's old argument was that people who lost their jobs in bingo clubs could find new jobs elsewhere, but that becomes less valid as each day passes, as unemployment rises and as the number of vacancies comes down. We have already lost 4,000 jobs.
Finance Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Stewart Hosie
(Scottish National Party)
in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 8 July 2009.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Finance Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
495 c1019-20
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2024-04-21 12:55:25 +0100
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