To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by how much the burden of excise duty and value-added tax on cigarettes has outstripped the all items retail prices index since 1979.

[holding answer 20 December 1989]: The combined excise duty and value added tax levied on a typical packet of 20 king-size cigarettes increased by 32 per cent. more than the retail prices index in the 10 years between October 1979 and October 1989.