Beer Taxation and Pubs

Of course, the business rates relief extension was part of the support for high streets and commu...

The hon. Gentleman talks about disappearing pubs in his constituency. A person does not actually ...

I would caution against trying to turn this into a party political issue, because although the nu...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the closure of a public house often has a far more devastating eff...

My right hon. Friend is quite right. I will speak about the particular importance of rural commun...

My hon. Friend is making a superb speech, as always. On the subject of the decline in the number ...

My right hon. Friend pre-empts the later part of my speech, and the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Tren...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. He is absolutely right about...

Order. Mr Perkins, if you want to speak, we are on a five-minute limit. I do not want to have to ...

I consider myself duly reprimanded, Mr Deputy Speaker. Suffice it to say that, once again, I stro...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I will take one last intervention and then I must move on, otherwise you will shout at me, Mr Dep...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate and on his powerful speech. The Black B...

I share the sadness whenever a well-used pub closes for any reason, and there is a particular imp...

My hon. Friend is making an extremely good point about the opportunities for people in the indust...

My hon. Friend is spot on. When I was helping to judge the parliamentary pub chef and young pub c...

Small brewers like St Peter’s in my constituency have a proven track record in exporting their be...

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point, which is one of those that needs to be considered....

I commend my hon. Friend on his speech. Pubs are very important in my constituency, where the bre...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldo...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree with Colin Shevills of Balance North East, who commissioned an inde...

There is a range of factors. Beer duty is certainly part of it, but business rates are a massive ...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I really cannot—I ought to have finished by now.

The three duty cuts and two beer tax freez...

With a five- minute limit, I call Ruth Smeeth.

1.57 pm

I congratulate my friend, the chairman of the APPG on beer, the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mik...

I’ve got the pubs.

I think I am going to be heckled throughout by my hon. Friend and neighbour.

Titanic has be...

Does the hon. Member recognise the importance of linking community pubs with craft breweries, suc...

There is a huge opportunity for us to debate the benefits of off-licence versus on-licence, the s...

I was stirred to action by the hon. Lady, my good friend, using the words “older gentlemen”—I qua...

I thank my friend for his intervention. I think a pint of Steerage from the Titanic brewery will ...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on making an excellent speech about the importance of the pubs at t...

I will touch on taxation in a moment.

I want to talk about the role of pubs in British cult...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I am afraid that I have run out of time for interventions.

As my hon. Friend the Member for...

I declare an interest, as president of the all-party parliamentary beer group. It is great to fol...

It was not a good joke the first time you said it.

As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, I live next door to a pub; there cannot be much more commitment t...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way and to him and his colleagues for securing this de...

Absolutely. I hope that many people will be taking their mums out to pubs in their communities to...

The hon. Gentleman is making a wonderful speech, as I knew he would on this topic, which he knows...

Yes. At times, there must be immense pressure for pubs that have closed to be turned into a block...

My hon. Friend speaks with forked tongue. I have been to the pub beside his house with him twice ...

All I can say in reply to that interesting intervention is that my hon. Friend has been to my pub...

What about Alexa?

I am not mentioning Alexa.

It is a great pub—it was actually the CAMRA pub of the year in 2...

I am pleased to be able to make a contribution to this very important debate, and to follow the h...

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way because she has just reminded me of something. I have been t...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right that a lot of publicans are having to be innovative in the...

In 1987.

Then it could well have been me who poured his pint.

As the hon. Gentleman has just said, p...

Does my hon. Friend think it would be good if the micro-brewers agreed with the family brewers a ...

I think that is a very sensible suggestion, and I hope my hon. Friend has fed it into the consult...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Heywood and Middleton (Liz McInnes). This debate h...

This, of course, is not the first time we have had a debate about pubs; we have had them for year...

I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman mentioned the community aspect in his valuable intervention....

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for St Albans (Mrs Main), who called at the end ...

My hon. Friend is making a wonderful speech. In the market town of Otley in my constituency, ther...

I certainly feel strongly that the owner or landlord of a pub is its custodian for the local comm...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins). As a nation we need t...

My hon. Friend makes a good point about the whisky industry which the Government have supported s...

I completely agree, and pubs are great outlets for locally grown produce which we can be very pro...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood), my near neighbour, on securing this ...

My hon. Friend has touched on the fact that there are differential duties. Does he agree that it ...

I agree with my hon. Friend. Given the increased consumption of cider and the increased tax reven...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I have had similar experiences, with pubs putting in the ...

I totally agree. The process is opaque and would often appear to be perverse as well. There is a ...

I thank the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) for bringing this debate before us. As other...

The Jolly Woodman in Chancery Lane in my constituency is the nearest pub to my house, and it prov...

I could not agree more, and I hope that one day the hon. Gentleman will take me to that splendid ...

I thank the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) for securing this debate, and I congratulate...

I did not expect the last two speeches to finish that quickly, but I am sure I do not qualify for...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate. I congratulate the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mi...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood) on securing the debate. As my hon. Fr...

We recently had a consultation in the west of Wales on the reconfiguration of health services. Dr...

I absolutely agree with that point. There is now evidence of that. Work has been undertaken, comm...

I thank the Backbench Business Committee for securing this debate. As numerous Members have noted...

The Minister is right that the small business brewing relief is an example of Government forgoing...

It certainly is, and I will talk shortly about the relief the hon. Gentleman mentions, which has ...

I rise, again, as an older gentleman. We have been talking about what pubs do. Let us imagine peo...

I agree with everything that my hon. Friend just said.

I will talk briefly about business r...

I thank all right hon. and hon. Members for their contributions today. We have had well over 20 c...