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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

No. Actually, we have been successful in avoiding the big increase in long-term unemployment that was such a damaging feature in the 1980s and the 1990s. The hon. Gentleman is right to draw attention to concerns about youth unemployment, which is the reason why we offered the six-month guarantee for 18 to 24-year olds, which we extended in the Budget for a further year. The hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne) spoke on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. Let me make a couple of points about cider duty, which is of course significantly less than duty on other alcoholic drinks. The two largest companies produce some 80 per cent. of cider in the UK; indeed, I noticed that the share price of one of them went up on Budget day. The majority of cider producers—some 400 smaller producers, producing less than 70 hectolitres—will not be affected at all. The duty rise was concentrated on the strongest industrial ciders—the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham (Mr. Hands) mentioned them—which are those with the lowest apple content, such as Frosty Jack's and Diamond White, with which there has been a link with disorderly behaviour, as we all know. I take issue with one point that the hon. Member for Taunton made. Referring to the child trust fund, he said that having a pot of money does not have an impact on life chances. He is quite wrong about that: in fact, it is the case—there is clear evidence to show this—that having a sum of money as one enters adulthood can make a big impact for the better on life chances. The child trust fund delivers that in an important way.