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Finance Bill

May I first congratulate the hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening) on what I thought was an excellent speech, putting the case on behalf of an industry that has been badly let down. Throughout the negotiations on the Gambling Act 2005, including the pre-consultation, the Government promised to listen to the case that BACTA and others were putting forward not just to safeguard themselves but in an attempt to work with the Government. When the Gambling Bill came out, it was clear that the Government had totally ignored all that advice and guidance. Labour Members voted gladly to support that, without realising the damaging consequences to the industry. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) for his advice not only to vote for the amendment but, if it fails, to vote against the clause stand part. I think that we should take that good advice. If I look around my part of the south coast and south Hampshire—Portsmouth, Hayling island, Fareham, Gosport, the Isle of Wight—all those areas have seen a decline in the arcade industry. Many establishments have already closed or been converted and some are in the process of conversion now. I do not share the concerns of my hon. Friend the Member for South-East Cornwall (Mr. Breed) about people demonstrating or campaigning—it is more about campaigning against new practices, as I do not believe there is a campaign in the country to try to close these operations. The Government are doing an effective job on their own bat by doing that. The amendment offers an opportunity for the Government to say that they realise that the industry is important in employing tens of thousands of people—not just in the front line in the arcades, fairgrounds and on piers, but in the manufacturing industry in respect of servicing the machines. Countless thousands of people will lose their jobs. If they were all concentrated in one or two constituencies, there would be a national outcry and the Government would be forced to take action. Because those people are mainly dispersed around the coastline and in the city centres, the Government can choose to ignore the problem—there may only be a few dozen here or there, perhaps 50 in a city like Portsmouth, so they can ignore it. I would say, however, that the Government ignore it at their peril. They not only disadvantage the industry when those arcades are closed down, as many people who enjoy the facilities offered there will be equally disappointed when the bingo halls are forced to close, like the arcades that are already closing. The different parts of this industry all have families and voters, so I urge the Government to listen carefully to tonight's debate. They have an opportunity to go some way to start to listen to the industry. They promised that they would, but ignored it in the Gambling Act. If we see what the hon. Member for Bournemouth, East (Mr. Ellwood) talked about—people migrating from arcades to the real danger of heavy gambling, which the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West mentioned; lots of people share his concerns—there will be an even bigger increase in the problem. The hon. Member for Bournemouth, East mentioned a figure of 11.2 or 11.4 per cent., but the report says that the figure is 11.4 per cent. and rising. That is the dilemma that the industry has to combat.