Finance (No. 3) Bill

I am making the point that there are precedents for applying to the EU for a derogation, and I will come on to examples of other Governments who have done so. I was about to quote the hon. Member for Brigg and Goole (Andrew Percy), who said from the Conservative Benches when we were debating the rural derogation:"““The pressures that affect the islands of Scotland and the Scilly Isles affect our constituents too.””" He went on to say that"““if any solution is applied to one part of the United Kingdom, it must be applied to other parts of it as well.””—[Official Report, 16 March 2011; Vol. 525, c. 352.]" Incidentally, we have heard reports that the Chief Secretary's derogation on that issue may be approved by this summer, after he applied only on Budget day. That is rather quicker than the six to seven years that the Government have claimed would be needed for a broader derogation on VAT for fuel. The French Government were willing to go to the EU to ask for special dispensation for French restaurants, and several member states have asked for other derogations in the past. Derogations have been granted for goods as diverse as fertilisers, pesticides and works of art, and for services from amusement parks and hotels to cleaning and cable television. In 1994, the British Government secured a derogation for domestic fuel, and in the past derogations have been granted to some member states for reduced VAT on goods such as heating oil.