"As always, my hon. Friend and fellow Staffordshire Member of Parliament makes an excellent point. We want to encourage investment by our brewers into this vital industry and into our pubs...." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"Over the last eight years there has been a 50% increase in beer duty but only a 10% increase in revenues from that duty. That is a great concern...." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"All the Members who have intervened have made the most wonderful points, and my hon. Friend certainly has not disappointed in that regard. I am a little disappointed, however, that he did not mention his four breweries for a potential future press release...." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"I would never dream of supposing that I knew more than Treasury Ministers, but that would certainly be a good idea to bear in mind for future Budgets. We must look at the economics involved. As I mentioned, there has been a 50% increase in the rate of duty, but …..." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"I entirely agree. I think we have gone too far, and it is having a detrimental effect on the amount of tax revenue the Treasury can get from this important potential source. The Exchequer already brings in £8 billion in tax revenue from the beer and pub industry, but my …..." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"The worst thing we could possibly see is the growth of the illicit trade and the Chancellor of the Exchequer getting none of the money whatsoever. We want to make sure that people are paying their taxes and their duty, but we do not want to tax people out of …..." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"My hon. Friend touches on an important point: this is not only about jobs, but about British jobs. Some 68% of the drinks that our pubs sell are beers, so this duty is having a detrimental impact on every one of our pubs. Furthermore, 86% of all that beer that …..." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"I would never expect anything other than an intervention from a great colleague of mine, who also is a farmer, to enable us to understand the whole process of the brewing industry and to put it into perspective for us...." Gavin Williamson - View Speech
"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 …..." Gavin Williamson - View Speech