I would not say that. I am always in favour of as much consultation as possible, and there has been plenty.

When people are asked, "Do you want an extra tax?", anyone who will have to pay it will say no. It has been claimed that businesses do not want the scheme because so many of them have said no. If it was an unqualified question, the answer would be 100 per cent. no, but some people have the vision to see how the proposal will benefit business. NET phase 2 will bring another 10,000 jobs and more than £1 billion of economic benefit to the city. It will reduce traffic growth and increase journeys by public transport. It will increase demand for park and ride by 45 per cent. and take 2,500,000 car journeys off the roads.

The scheme affects only 15 per cent. of employers. That is the problem. Most people do not want to talk about it because it does not affect them, but those 15 per cent. of employers provide 80 per cent. of the car park spaces, so the scheme embodies the idea that the polluter pays.

I would like to say a lot more things, but I shall end by saying this. As my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North said, I was the original chairman of the steering group that set up the first tram. That project was a partnership between business, the county council and the city council. It was a private finance initiative that delivered everything that it set out to do—it was on time and on budget, and there was more patronage than expected. It was a success by any measure. Everybody who opposed the tram now thinks that it is a great thing.

If people had been asked whether they wanted the tram to be extended, they would have said yes; if they had been asked whether business should pay its part towards that, they would have said yes. In those days, business had a vision of what the future in Nottingham was about and of investment for the future. I hope that business is not now retreating into looking only to what is good for shareholders. If Jesse Boot—a great Nottingham business man, but also a great supporter of the community and of Nottingham—were alive today, he would say, "Let's do what's right for the community." I hope that people in business now decide to do what is right for the community and for Nottingham—especially when doing what is right for the city is also right for business. All the Nottingham MPs, the city council, the majority of businesses and almost all the population support the proposal. I hope that the Minister will offer us his support in the near future.