Finance (No. 4) Bill
Debate between Lord Mann and David Ward(12 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
What a shambles! What a catastrophe! I refer not to this debate, but to the career prospects of the Chancellor. He went into the Budget as the man destined, in his eyes and others’, to be the next leader of the Conservative party, and he departs from it with a shambles around him.
I thought a bit of sympathy would be in order and I wanted to demonstrate to the Chancellor the impact of his Budget, so the week before Easter, I offered him the opportunity to visit a caravan in Chapel St Leonards. I was prepared to bring in some cheap lagers—the type that I know he likes—from the supermarket, and to cook him one of his favourites: the sausage sandwich. There has been a lot of concentration on the pasty, but the humble sausage sandwich, never before taxed in this country, is now to attract VAT when provided at outlets across the country. The Minister is shaking his head—he does not know the proposals in the Budget. The sausage sandwich cooked hot by the bakers across the country and cooling down below the ambient temperature is VAT-able under the Government’s proposals.
John Mann
I awaited the Chancellor’s response to my offer. Was it the brown sauce, was it the red sauce or was it no sauce at all? That was taxed with VAT at the last Budget. [Hon. Members: “Give way!”] The Chancellor had the opportunity. The caravans in Lincolnshire that people rely on for their English holidays are to be taxed as well, for the first time. The Chancellor chose not to respond.