Lord Jamieson (Con)

I thank the Minister for her response. Before I comment on it, I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, for his work as the Liberal Democrat Chief Whip. I am slightly envious that he will not be here after midnight. I fear that several of us will be here after midnight many more times in the future, but for tonight, let us avoid having a little argument about whether this is dinner break business and try to focus on what we are here to do. The noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, commented on focusing on warehouses. Twice as many retail premises will be hit by that change in tax. Anyway, I will get on to this. My first comment is that it is regrettable that we are debating this so late at night. This is an important issue: the impact of business rates and other factors on our retail, hospitality and leisure sector. It is disappointing that it has not had the debate that it deserves. The Minister again threw out a large number of numbers and obfuscation and claimed selective memory. Well, I can share barbs across the Benches, but I do not feel that that is the point of tonight. The point of tonight is to raise the plight of our hospitality and leisure venues. I use pubs as an example here. They really are in deep trouble. They are in worse trouble now than they were two years ago, by a very substantial margin. I worry that this Government are continuing to undermine them. However, I recognise the late hour. What I will do, rather than press this to a vote, is invite the Minister to my local pub, which is only a 40-minute drive from Stevenage, so that she can hear at first hand of the difficulties that are faced by pub owners, in central Bedfordshire at least. I am glad that the pubs in Stevenage are doing well. With that, recognising the late hour, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.