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Finance Bill

That is quite right, although it takes us into a wider, general economic matter that is not strictly the point at issue in the amendment. The issue that we must consider is the adverse impact of duty escalators on both jobs and prices. The two are related, of course. This is a time when people may be losing a week or two of work a month because a factory is partially closed. They may have lost overtime or one or two days' work a week, or they may even be off work for three or six months because of the temporary closure of big factories, for example in parts of the motor industry. This extra price increase on something that they like to do for relaxation is not good news, and the Government might be underestimating the impact it could have on hard-pressed budgets. If alcohol costs too much, fewer people will go to the pub. If fewer people go to the pub, it is more likely that the pub will close. The Government will then be fuelling a vicious cycle of driving more people out of work and causing a further reduction in effective demand, which I am sure they do not intend to do. They tell us that they will do whatever it takes to turn this recession around, but this is another case of their taking actions that cannot be helpful, and which in parts of the entertainment and alcohol industry will be extremely damaging. It is wrong for us to ignore or underestimate the power and passion of the lobbying that we have seen in recent weeks.