Finance (No. 3) Bill

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who will remember that whatever the unemployment figures were in his constituency in 2005, he contested Horsham for Labour in that election and supported the manifesto of the Government of the time. He may have a little egg on his face at this point. The key issue is the corporation tax cut. An article of 23 March from a national newspaper—it happens to be The Guardian, before hon. Members fall about with laughter—assessed how the corporation tax cut would help with maintaining employment in and attracting employment to the United Kingdom. It quoted several senior business people. Mr Roberto Troster, a financial consultant from Brazil, said that the biggest drawback with investment in Britain was not corporation tax but financial regulation and whether we were in or out of the euro. That view might not be shared across the Committee. The managing director of a regional trade body in the German state of Baden-Württemburg, whose capital is Stuttgart, one of the major employment sectors of the European Community, said:"““It remains to be seen how Germany will respond with a rate of 29.4%. The decision””" to cut corporation tax"““will please companies that already have a presence in the UK and will help those considering entering the UK market.””" However, his key point was that it remains to be seen whether it will lead to more firms setting up business in Britain. The head of German packaging company Optima, which is based in south-west Germany, has an office in the United Kingdom and is considering setting up a factory here, said:"““Taxes should never be the decisive factor when it comes to deciding where a business should be based.””" I simply put on the table the fact that we need to discuss what attracts business to come to the United Kingdom, to remain here, and to invest. The level of corporation tax undoubtedly plays a part in that, but we need to look at other factors, including major issues to do with skills development, public spending and employment opportunities.