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Finance Bill

Thank you, Sir Alan. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie). I shall return to his amendment in due course, but I was greatly entertained and interested by his passionate defence of the Scotch whisky industry—so much so that I thought that amendment 10 had actually been tabled by the Scottish National party. We are, of course, speaking to the Liberal Democrat amendment, which is designed to freeze spirit duty only, while allowing beer and cider duty to continue to rise. It is also a pleasure to follow my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Redwood), who spoke, as always, with a great deal of sense. I look forward to the Minister's explanation of the duty figures and to her response to his question about the tipping point, the revenue-maximisation point and other issues facing the industry. In speaking to his amendment, the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne) recovered well after a difficult start, but it is worth repeating that the amendment says that he will freeze only spirit duties for three years, while he seems quite happy for the above-inflation increases to continue for wine, beer and cider.