A Finance Bill is slightly different. Because they enact Budgets, in this case the Autumn Budget, there has usually already been a few days’ debate following the Chancellor’s speech. During this year’s Budget debate for instance, plenty of Labour MPs stood up to speak out against the family farm tax.
This month’s Second Reading of the Finance Bill will still focus on the general principles of what the Chancellor set out in her Budget. A Treasury minister will open the debate, followed by a speech from the Conservatives as the official opposition. The debate will continue with other backbench MPs giving their views and the NFU has sent a briefing to all MPs to help them prepare.
More on the Autumn Budget
Can the Bill be amended at this stage?
At this point we just want MPs to continue to raise the family farm tax. This will once again demonstrate to the government, particularly the Treasury, that MPs continue to remain unhappy with this aspect of the Bill and that they need to give this further consideration.
The crucial point for us is that no amendments to a Bill are allowed at Second Reading. Because there are no amendments to debate or vote on, there is just one vote for MPs to make – whether the Bill should proceed to the next stage on its journey into law.
How will MPs vote?
While we are asking all MPs, including Labour MPs, to continue putting pressure on the government by raising the family farm tax during the Second Reading debate which takes place prior to the vote. We aren’t expecting Labour MPs to vote against the Finance Bill at Second Reading.
We understand that even those Labour MPs who previously abstained on Resolution 50 will still welcome the overall Budget package. It is important to remember that the Finance Bill contains lots of other changes as set out in the Chancellor’s Budget, for example, the removal of the two-child benefit cap.
Next steps
The House of Commons will rise for its Christmas Recess on 19 December. Therefore, the chance for MPs to carry out more detailed scrutiny of the Finance Bill, including the specific clauses on the family farm tax, will come in the New Year.
That means that there is still, after all this time, an opportunity for the government to act.
The NFU’s view remains that the Labour Party should keep its pre-election promise and reverse this tax. At the very least, the government should move its own amendment to the Finance Bill to remove the anti-forestalling clause. This clause specifically precludes elderly or terminally ill farmers from navigating these reforms.
At the end of the Second Reading debate, we will get a full programme motion (parliamentary jargon for timetable) for the Finance Bill. Then we will know exactly when the Bill will enter its next stages, Committee Stage and Report Stage. We will keep you updated on when these stages are due and what that means for our continued lobbying.