The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has helped deliver a letter to HM Treasury, signed by 85 Conservative MPs, urging the Chancellor to cut Beer Duty in the upcoming Budget.
The letter was delivered to the Treasury by Chairman of the All-Parliamentary Beer Group, Mike Wood, and Sheryll Murray, MP for South East Cornwall, with assistance from the BBPA and the Long Live the Local campaign.
Mike Wood stated, “Beer Duty remains much too high. It is much higher than any other major beer-producing country in Europe. In fact, someone who bought a pint in each of the five other major beer-producing countries—Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Poland—would still have paid less duty on those five pints than they would on a single pint in Britain.”
Sheryll Murray added, “I am delighted that so many of my Conservative colleagues are backing the Great British pub and calling on the Chancellor to cut Beer Duty at the Budget. The pub is a vital part of all of our communities and the best way to show our support for them is by reducing the tax burden on them.”
Welcoming their support, Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, commented: “Over 250,000 pub goers have signed the Long Live the Local petition to cut beer duty and a further 130,000 have written to their MPs. It is great to see so many MPs understand how much their constituents want a cut in Beer Duty at the next Budget. The Chancellor now has a fantastic opportunity to take action.”
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
The British Beer & Pub Association is the leading body representing Britain’s brewers and pub companies. The Association is more than a century old and was originally founded as the Brewers’ Society in 1904. Our members account for some 90 per cent of beer brewed in Britain today, and own around 20,000 of the nation’s pubs.