I agree that business needs certainty about taxation to make investment decisions, and that is why we have committed to maintaining one of the most competitive tax rates in the G7, but today’s theme seems to be that the Government wish to talk only about corporation tax, and to airbrush out their catastrophic mistakes with the annual investment allowance. The hon. Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke) made a valiant speech, but I felt it was dreadfully misguided. He was in quite a bit of trouble trying to defend the Government’s record in this respect, but frankly the decision making has been erratic and completely indefensible.
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North West (Mr Robinson), who made a very thoughtful and considered speech in which he set in the historical pre-2010 context some of the rationale behind the Government’s decision making in this regard, but he also highlighted the irrational aspects.
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We take very seriously the need to ensure that businesses have the right environment, the confidence and the certainty that they need to make investment decisions for the future. We are concerned about the Government’s erratic approach to the annual investment allowance. We think that a proper report needs to be produced to ascertain exactly what the impacts of chopping and changing this policy have been. That would ensure that this Government do not make these mistakes in future, that any future Government can learn from the mistakes of this Government, and that we have a proper annual investment allowance strategy for the future that supports the jobs and growth that this economy so desperately needs.