My Lords, there is a principle of progression: the landowner will have more dustbins than the person at his gate in the cottage. But the question is whether council tax should be the means of levying an enormous amount of tax on immobile wealth—whether that is the right way to go after that wealth. If we had a Government who wanted to go after people with more money than the average, I have been long enough in policy-making to suggest that there might be better ways of doing so than by using council tax. It is a perfectly legitimate argument that has raged between my good socialist friends and others through all my life, but I would not do it this way.
I wish to conclude and make it clear to the House before I do, in case any noble Lord wants to intervene on me again, that I do not propose to move my further amendments because we have had an extremely interesting and valuable debate and I do not wish to detain your Lordships. I hope that I have made it clear that if my noble friend wished to bring this Bill forward on Report, I would not only lay a number of amendments but I would make them more detailed amendments. The local authorities and the householders of Britain would deserve no less. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.