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AMENDMENT OF THE LAW

The hon. Gentleman clearly was not listening. We are in favour of the effective spending of the huge sums of money that are being raised from the public. One has only to open the public appointments section of The Guardian to see huge sums of money being offered for what I would term non-jobs. Huge savings could be made there. As I have said, the Government do not have any money of their own; they have only the money that they take from us in increasing amounts. Huge amounts of beer and other alcoholic drinks are being smuggled in and sold in car parks, pubs and clubs all over the country. This affects not only the businesses of those who live near Dover, but the Government’s tax take. The Chancellor has raised the duty on these products, yet they are also being smuggled in through the back door. By buying those smuggled products, people are stealing the taxes that would otherwise go into the national health service, education, or law and order, which is where we want to see money being spent effectively. Will any money be earmarked for bearing down further on people who smuggle products on which taxes are levied into the United Kingdom, whatever they happen to be? Such practices undermine the Government’s health and taxation priorities for this country.