(Except clauses 1, 3, 7, 8, 12, 20, 21, 25, 67 and 81 to 84, schedules 1, 18, 22 and 23, and new clauses relating to microgeneration) - Clause 5
Finance Bill
9:00 am
Philip Dunne (Ludlow, Conservative)
I think I can be forgiven that mistake.
There is a question about the distinction between on-trade and off-trade in respect of the increased duties for beer. It is particularly pertinent this year given the substantial increase in costs that have been imposed on the on-licence pub trade by the ban on smoking in public places. Publicans up and down the country have had to invest significantly in their pubs to retain their volume of business. The evidence from other countries that have already imposed a smoking ban—Scotland, and Ireland last year—is that there is a marked decline in trade in many pubs that do not offer food. Consequently, pubs are not only having to increase their costs but they are seeing their sales decline. To hit them with another increase in duty at the same time seems unduly harsh.