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Finance Bill

The hon. Gentleman raises an interesting point. Although I am relatively new to the Finance Bill, I did not believe that it was possible to table an amendment to an amendment, so I am not sure how I could have tabled an amendment to his amendment. It is important to be clear about what we are discussing and amendment 10 deals only with the spirits industry, but I appreciate the spirit in which the hon. Gentleman says that he actually means the whole industry. I will try to move on from that. The only other thing I would say about the amendment is that it is also clear that no reduction in duty would be possible until such time as the report is presented—a point made very ably by my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr. Bone) and, albeit some hours afterwards, by the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink), who in his customary fashion has been in and out rather quickly. Having said all that and having listened to the speech of the hon. Member for Taunton, I agree with the great majority of what he had to say about the issues facing the industry.