Taxation: Beer and Pubs

Absolutely, and I will come on to the specific role of pubs later. Supporting the pub trade has a...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this important debate. May I place on the record my prais...

Partly because of the small breweries’ relief scheme, we now have a greater variety and, I would ...

rose—

rose—

I will give way just one last time and then I must make some progress.

In the last Parliament, there was a Bill on this subject; I think that a Liberal Democrat introdu...

Order. I call Mike Wood.

The hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) of course makes an important and valid point i...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I must continue because a lot of colleagues are waiting to get in.

The beer industry is a t...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Shepherd Neame, the pub and brewing company...

I thank my hon. Friend, who represents our oldest brewery. It is important that we support establ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that at a time when we are becoming more digitised and people are spend...

My hon. Friend goes right to the heart of this issue. Friends are made and communities come toget...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is a terrible shame that we lost some 10,000 pubs between 2003 ...

Absolutely. That is as true in our towns as it is in our villages. About 80% of pubs are communit...

The hon. Gentleman makes a profound point about the importance of pubs to rural villages, but doe...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. It is particularly troubling that those pubs that close i...

Pubs and breweries in Barnsley East contribute more than £12 million to the local economy, but on...

I think that is exactly what the Government have done over the past 12 months in changing the rul...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is ludicrous that pubs in Stoke-on-Trent pay more in busine...

I could not agree more. The revaluation of business rates was often seen as an issue that affecte...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. A pub in my constituency has seen its rates go up 83%. Do...

That is right. As well as a large part of that turnover being just business tax, it is a huge dis...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is unfair that in this country, compared with other EU nati...

As I have indicated, I think that situation is not sustainable in even the medium term, and certa...

Order. A number of hon. Members have indicated that they wish to speak, so I am going to start wi...

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Owen. I congratulate the hon. Member ...

Order. We now resume the debate. Mr Perkins has 41 seconds left, but I will be generous and give ...

I will finish with this. We have spoken a lot about beer duty and VAT, but it is crucial that the...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Owen. This is an excellent debate, which is...

In my constituency, King’s Lynn also has a historic heart. CAMRA has been really proactive in dri...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Indeed, CAMRA provided me with statistics. There are 62 pubs ...

Order. A mobile phone is being picked up by the microphone, which we can hear loudly up here.

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate; I congratulate the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike W...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me and other hon. Members who have spoken that there is a need...

No one in the Chamber today would disagree with that.

The Government rightly tried to incen...

Tourism is vital to my constituency, but does the hon. Gentleman agree that the issue is also com...

Yes, I do hold with that. We all agree—it is very much a part of what we are about.

In Nort...

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) on securing this important ...

I think that the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) has tempted man...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will, in order to gain another minute.

And because my hon. Friend wants to hear what I have to say, I am sure. On the important point ab...

The hon. Gentleman does not have to take the full minute.

As you have assured me that your favourite brewery in Yorkshire is Black Sheep brewery, I will ta...

It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for Keighley (John Grogan), who is such a champion of t...

As the hon. Gentleman knows, I am a proud representative of the Titanic brewery in my constituenc...

The Treasury really has to take this issue on board. Business rates, the living wage and other co...

I call Anne Marie Morris to speak for four minutes and I will then reduce the time limit to three...

Pubs are a core part of my very rural constituency and provide 2,000 jobs overall. In those rural...

I will give an example of the costs I mentioned. One of my publicans told me about the cost of Bo...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Owen. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Mem...

Order. Before I call Fiona Bruce, let me say to Iain Duncan Smith that his debate will start at a...

Pubs are indeed great community assets, but many face challenges because of the availability of c...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate; I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley Sou...

Does my hon. Friend support my request that the Minister consider applying small breweries’ relie...

I absolutely agree that cider should be considered for the relief as well.

The Budget gives...

I thank the Labour and Scottish National party Front Benchers for agreeing to shave some time fro...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) on securing this debate and on his ex...

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady; if the next Front-Bench spokesperson takes the same amount o...

We hope, Mr Owen. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I congratulate the hon. Memb...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her remarks and for allowing the Minister a full 10 minutes, u...

It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Owen. I congratulate my hon. Friend ...

I thank the Minister. I call Mike Wood to make the concluding remarks.

4.29 pm

I thank the Minister for making a generally positive response and for the many meetings he has ha...

Order.

Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).