During the House of Lords debate, Lord Rennard reiterated his disappointment that the Government appeared less supportive of a tobacco industry levy than Labour had been when in opposition.

I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate and particularly appreciate that we are all on the same page on the principles of these issues. However, when it comes to the tobacco levy, the Government Front Bench were more on the same page as us when they were in opposition than they are this evening.

I reiterate my invitation to the Treasury to come and meet the APPG on Smoking and Health to discuss these issues. We know that increasing the price of cigarettes has reduced consumption, but we worry about the fact that many smokers are poor. Often, they are poor because they smoke—and are in ill health. We want to improve their health. If we simply tax them more and not the tobacco companies, the wrong people will be paying for the damage caused by the industry. Looking at models, we see that in the pharmaceutical industry it is perfectly possible to tax profits while preventing price increases hitting the consumer. That is the principle we must examine.

On that note, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

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