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Finance Bill

My own father took the pledge when he was 15—[Interruption.] No, 15, not 50. I have not quite managed to live up to the high standards of his Methodist upbringing. Perhaps we all aspire, at least, to moderation. Amendment 10 would require the Government to produce a report on the impact of increases in alcohol duty on licensed premises and on employment in the alcohol sector. The Government do not support the amendment. One reason, which has been demonstrated at great length tonight, is that there is plenty of such information already available. As with all tax decisions, the Government will monitor the impact of alcohol duty changes, including on the industry. Many hon. Members have acknowledged that competitiveness and employment levels in any industry depend on a range of factors. It would therefore be very difficult to identify the specific impact of alcohol duty rises alone, against other factors such as a change in the culture of pubs and their customers and increased competition for leisure time. The Government value the contribution that pubs make to employment and local communities, although EU tax legislation means that it is not possible to provide tax reliefs targeted specifically at pubs, such as taxing beer sold in supermarkets differently from that sold in pubs.