Clause 3
Finance (No. 2) Bill
5:15 pm
Julia Goldsworthy (Shadow Chief Secretary To the Treasury, Treasury; Falmouth and Camborne, Liberal Democrat)
I should like to thank the hon. Member for Wycombe (Mr. Goodman) for his generous welcome.This morning I was at a PricewaterhouseCoopers conference on public services reform that had been arranged prior even to my joining the Liberal Democrat Treasury team. Unfortunately, the conference was unavoidable and I could not be here this morning.
We have no quarrel with the increases in excise duty on beer in clause 3. Including VAT, it represents a penny a pint and it is sensible to maintain revenues. I should like to raise only one point. Why did the Chancellor of the Exchequer feel it appropriate to freeze duties on sparkling wines, in anticipation of success at the World cup, when the majority of supporters will be drinking beer, not champagne?