To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rates of duty are per centilitre of alcohol for (a) beer, (b) wine and (c) spirits.

The excise duty per centilitre of pure alcohol would be about 10·2p for a typical beer or table wine, arid 17·35p for spirits.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the yield to the Exchequer would be if the rate of duty for beer and wine were increased to that of spirits; by how much the price of a pint of beer and a bottle of wine would rise; and what would be the effect on the retail price index.

The extra yield to the Exchequer if the rate of duty per unit of alcohol on beer and wine were increased to that of spirits would be £1½ billion in 1991–92. The price of a typical pint of beer and a 75 cl bottle of table wine would rise by about 18p and 69p respectively. The impact effect on the retail price index would be to raise it by around 1 per cent. in total.