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Finance Bill

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We have heard nothing from the Government that will help our traditional pubs, even though the consequences of their closure are much greater than one might imagine. When a pub closes, people either go to our town centres—where the vibrancy of what goes on already poses a challenge in many places—or they purchase their alcohol in supermarkets. When the Government first took office, a pint of beer in a pub cost just twice what it cost in the supermarket. It now costs seven times as much, thanks to the increase in duties imposed by the Government. That does not help our pub industry at all.