Beer Duty Escalator

Debate between Andrew Bingham and Gavin Williamson

Monday 2nd July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

The hon. Lady makes a very valid point. One of the consequences of having a Scotsman as Chancellor for quite a period of time is that the duty on Scotch whisky seemed to be frozen. Perhaps now that we have an English Chancellor what we need is to freeze the duty on English beer. There is so much that we need to be doing. We need to be reviving our pubs. We need to be seeing that vigour and sense of community returning to all our pubs across the country.

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate; the number of Members here at this late hour shows its importance. Does he agree that pubs not only sell beer, but provide a great community centre in small and rural communities? So many charity collections and fundraising exercises begin in pubs, where people meet and talk.

[Gavin Williamson]

My hon. Friend makes a valid point. In addition, pubs are an important part of the economy and employ young people. In my constituency, 50% of those employed in the beer and pub industry are under the age of 25.

We all talk about the beer duty escalator. Just the other day, I was in a department store. I went up an escalator, and then I noticed that I went down one. So I say to the Minister that we could keep a beer duty escalator, but perhaps put it in reverse.