Member

None the less, the Government have been perfectly reasonable in relation to alcohol. The Portman Group is a good model, and therefore I think that having an industry-wide body, proper consultation and an eye to a bit less regulatory overreach and state control of everything—dotting the “i”s and crossing the “t”s—would be much more in line with the Government’s own attitude, which is constantly saying that they want to be flexible enough, tear up the red tape regulations where they are not needed and help business thrive. These amendments seem to be encouraging what the Government are already saying they want to do everywhere else, and I think we should encourage that. I am not suggesting that they should suddenly get into bed with big tobacco, but I think that, because we are not going to conflate everything with no nuance at all, these amendments are worth taking very seriously.