I have some brief remarks. I commend the hon. Member for Wycombe on his thoughtful comments. I was not contacted by the brewers, although one of the country’s largest brewers is headquartered in my Constituency. It used to be called Banks’s, then Wolverhampton and Dudley Brewery and is now Marston’s. It is known to many hon. Members, and is led by its excellent chief executive, Ralph Findlay. It has been very successful and its profits have gone up markedly in recent years. However, I note from the explanatory notes that the duty on beer, wine and cider has been raised this year in line with inflation, but the duty on spirits is frozen and, in fact, is 27 per cent. lower than it would have been if it had been increased in line with inflation since 1997. The corresponding fall for beer is 3 per cent. in real terms; for cider it is 19 per cent.; for still wine it is 3 per cent.; and for sparkling wine it is 16 per cent. Can I tempt the Financial Secretary to say a little more about the fair balance, as he did last year?

I am faced with having a major brewer in my constituency who brews excellent beer, as many hon. Members know, yet the rate in the past 10 years has risen relatively a lot more compared with the rate for spirits.

Debate adjourned.—[Kevin Brennan]