Clause 20
Finance Bill
2:30 pm
Jeremy Browne (Shadow Chief Secretary To the Treasury, Treasury; Taunton, Liberal Democrat)
I want to support the brief, probing speech made by the hon. Member for South-West Hertfordshire. I had the great pleasure of calling the bingo numbers in Mecca Bingo in Taunton recently, and was congratulated both on the clarity with which I did it and on not allowing myself to stray into those colloquial terms with which we are all so familiar.
The point was made to me on that occasion, and has been made to me on many other occasions, that bingo is an industry that suffers from what is commonly known as double taxation. That is problematic, given that the industry faces other pressures as a business. I am the last person to think that businesses should be propped up if they are unable to attract customers. It is for the bingo industry to appeal to people to spend their leisure time playing bingo, rather than watching television or going for a walk in the countryside or whatever else people might choose to spend their free time doing, but there are pressures on the bingo industry as a result of the smoking ban, most obviously, and other considerations. The sector is important, as it employs significant numbers of people. Bingo is also enjoyed as a leisure activity by many thousands of our fellow citizens. The point is constantly made that the taxation arrangements are disadvantageous compared with other forms of leisure pursuits with a gambling dimension. I would be grateful if the Minister responded to those concerns.