Clause 9
Finance Bill
5:00 pm
Angela Eagle (Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury; Wallasey, Labour)
We need to be precise in the terms that we are using. I have just reminded the hon. Gentleman that the Government do not claim that the increase in the Budget will “address binge drinking”, which is the phrase that he used initially in his speech. If the Minister of State, Department of Health was talking about price, people need to be aware that she used the caveat,
“if they do feed through to price”,
in reference to the duty increases. In those circumstances, there might be a positive effect, not necessarily on binge drinking, but on overall levels of alcohol consumption, which is not the same as binge drinking, as the hon. Gentleman will know if he is being reasonable.