Budget Day Blow for Community Pubs

Chancellor slaps 4p on a pint

12 March 2008 - Just a few days after CAMRA released its latest survey showing 57 pubs are closing for good every month, the Chancellor was slammed for adding 4p on a pint and driving another nail into the coffin of our community pubs.

He did not stop there - as well as beer up 4p a pint, cider is up 3p, wine 14p a bottle and spirits 55p. That's 6% above inflation with the promise of rises 2% over inflation for the next four years too.

This has been universally condemned not just by those in the licensing trade but also by those who take an active interest in the long term survival of our pub heritage.

In The Pub Walker blog, the Chancellor is criticised for simply picking on an easy target in the name of fighting binge-drinking, while doing nothing to curb the deep-discounting of the supermarket giants which is a far bigger contributor to the problem.

CAMRA agreed that the tax hike would not stop teenagers binge drinking and expect to see an increase in booze cruises and alcohol smuggling.

Mike Benner, Chief Executive of CAMRA said, “The Chancellor has failed to recognise that well-run community pubs are the solution to Britain's binge drinking problems. This budget will do nothing to stop binge drinking, but it will lead to pub closures on a huge scale, widen the gap between supermarket and pub prices and encourage smuggling and cross-border shopping. It's a great big nail whacked ruthlessly into the coffin of the British pub.”

Rob Hayward, British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) Chief Executive, said: “ “By aiming a tax hike at beer, the Chancellor is shooting himself in the foot. Every single day, the Treasury is losing over £1 million in beer taxes and four pubs are closing. People are now drinking 1 million fewer pints a day compared with last year. That trend will continue. It’s a decision doomed to failure – bad for taxpayers, beer, pubs and bad for the Treasury as well."

“Government is punishing all beer drinkers rather than tackling the minority of drunken hooligans. But Government tax policy is fuelling Britain’s binge drink problem by driving people away from beer, out of the pub into the arms of the deep discounting supermarkets. They don’t pay beer duty and don’t allow brewers to pass it on, so their rock bottom prices will remain unaffected by this tax hike.”