Finance (No. 2) Bill Committee: Clause 62 stand part
344Ayes
181Noes
Carried · majority 163 · Government won121 did not vote
646 Members · Aye 344 · No 181 · DNV 121 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on 12 January 2026 to keep Clause 62 of the Finance (No. 2) Bill in the legislation. The motion passed by 344 votes to 181. The clause forms part of the government's package of tax measures flowing from the 2025 Budget, covering income tax charges and related provisions for the coming financial year. The Finance (No. 2) Bill implements the tax decisions announced in the Chancellor's October 2025 Budget. Ministers argue the measures are necessary to raise revenue for public services and to reduce borrowing, which they say is now falling in every year of the official forecast. Critics, including the Democratic Unionist Party's Jim Shannon in the debate, raised concern that the burden falls on lower and middle-income families rather than the wealthiest, pointing to Office for Budget Responsibility figures suggesting 4.8 million more people will move into higher rate tax bands and 600,000 into the additional rate band through the continuation of frozen thresholds, a process known as fiscal drag. Labour and Labour and Co-operative Party MPs voted unanimously in favour, providing 337 of the 344 ayes. Conservatives (95 votes), Liberal Democrats (65), the SNP (9), the DUP (5) and Reform UK (3) all voted against, making opposition to the clause a rare point of agreement across very different parties. Four independents voted aye and three voted no. No significant cross-party rebellions were visible in the data.
Voting Aye meant
Support the government's Finance Bill tax provisions, accepting that maintaining frozen thresholds and other measures are necessary to fund public services and reduce borrowing
Voting No meant
Oppose the clause, arguing the government's tax approach hits ordinary working families rather than the wealthiest, or that it represents fiscal overreach
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped Aye
302
0
59
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped No
0
95
21
Liberal Democrats
Whipped No
0
64
7
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped Aye
35
0
7
Independent
—
4
4
5
Scottish National Party
Whipped No
0
9
0
Reform UK
Whipped No
0
3
5
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
Whipped No
0
5
0
Green Party of England and Wales
—
2
0
2
Plaid Cymru
—
0
0
4
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
0
2
Your Party
—
2
0
0
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
1
0
Restore Britain
—
0
0
1
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
0
1
0
Ulster Unionist Party
—
0
1
0
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
Government measures are fair, necessary, and progressive; they raise revenue from those undertaxed relative to employees while protecting public services and maintaining lowest borrowing levels.Labour · Voted aye · Read full speech (11,197 words) →
Bill represents broken manifesto promises and a 'war on landlords,' savers, and small businesses; threshold freeze and asset income tax hikes total £23 billion and will harm ordinary working people and enterprise culture.Conservative · Voted no · Read full speech (4,456 words) →
Dividend tax increase is right because wealth taxation has not kept pace with economic change; comparative evidence from France shows it encourages reinvestment and is easily implementable.Labour · Voted aye · Read full speech (1,788 words) →
Tax changes add unwarranted complexity, burden small businesses, risk unintended rental market consequences, and strain HMRC resources; impact assessments essential before implementation.Liberal Democrat · Voted no · Read full speech (1,593 words) →
Changes overtax risk and enterprise, destroying incentive culture; dividend taxation contradicts government's own growth objectives and continues damaging trend of taxing return on investment.Conservative · Voted no · Read full speech (292 words) →
Tax changes hit lower and middle-income families unfairly; 4.8 million more individuals will pay higher rate and 600,000 will enter additional rate, while millionaires can afford it.DUP · Voted no · Read full speech (505 words) →
Government claims of fairness contradicted by numerous U-turns since Budget announcement; questions credibility of stated good effects.Conservative · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (53 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0