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Jeremy Hunt’s budget pledge to cut tariffs on draft beer in pubs to protect one of the country’s “most valuable community institutions” was just an attempt to secure positive headlines. There is little to help struggling pubs, a Stockport landlord said. I.
The prime minister has linked draft beer tariff cuts to Britain’s exit from the EU, saying “Britain’s ale is warm, but the obligation for a pint is frozen”, dubbing the move “Brexit’s pub guarantee” and pro-Brexit. I played a game to appeal to people.
But the beverage industry scorned Mr Hunt for announcing a triumphant budget proposal that heralded the future of the “great British pub”, and the prime minister “gives on the one hand, gives on the other” by raising other alcohol tax rates. I will take it with my hands,” he pointed out. Inflation pushes up the price of wine and spirits. Also, under EU law, the Ministry of Finance has confirmed that tariffs can be reduced on all types of beer.
Hunt said that from 1 August, pub draft beer tariffs will be up to 11 pence lower than supermarket tariffs, while tariffs on all other alcohol will increase by an average of 10.1 per cent.
Landlord Jamie Langlish runs three pubs in and around Stockport. Heaton Marsey’s The Crown, Stockport’s Baker’s Vault and Cheadle’s Red Lion. He described the budget as “catastrophic” and said the draft cuts, combined with the elimination of corporate energy incentives, were just “a drop in the ocean” for struggling pubs.
Within minutes of Mr Hunt’s announcement, Mr Langlish was being lashed out by customers who wanted to know when the price of draft beer would be reduced.
Hearing the headline numbers, they thought the price would drop 11 pence soon. But Langlish said this is not possible. In fact, he will probably be forced to raise prices as tariffs on wine and spirits rise and the government’s energy bill relief for businesses ends. (The Energy Price Guarantee, which limits household bills to £2,500 for normal use, is extended through August.)
Treasury ‘clearly went to grab headlines’ [suggesting that] pints are cheaper [at the] Supermarkets,” said Langlish.
“Everything else is going up. It doesn’t affect the price of a pint of beer at all. One hand to give, the other to take away… Really disappointing,” he added.
Mr Hunt was technically correct in his assertion that a reduction in his draft beer tax would have been impossible if the UK was still part of the EU, but this does not mean that under EU rules the alcohol tax would have been on packaging. The British Beer and Pub Association says this is because it does not allow discrimination by type. Confirmed.
This meant that the prime minister had to cut tariffs on all beer, including those sold in bottles and cans.
BBPA chief executive and former Conservative MP Emma McClurkin said, “This budget was a moment of success or failure for pubs and brewers who have run out of road for too long.” .
She added:
“But the reality is that our industry will face an overall tax increase in August rather than a tax cut. We will not recalibrate the devastating impact energy contracts are having on both pubs and the breweries that serve them.”
Budget 2023
What budgeting really means for your money From childcare and pensions to cigarettes and fuel.
budget announcement include 30 hours free childcare promise For children 9 months and older – but staggered until September 2025. Also, the sudden removal of lifetime allowance limits on pension savings, the freezing of customs duties on pub his pints and the price of an average 20 pack of cigarettes from £10.65 to £11.80.
Prime Minister Sri? Chief political commentator Paul Waugh says Hunt’s speech is a return to his party’s habit of robbing critics’ best ideas from the left, right and center.
Don’t let Jeremy Hunt’s budget fool you. Columnist Ian Dant says. Catastrophe hidden in small print…