The Independent Family Brewers of Britain (IFBB) has given its support to MPs fighting for a more comprehensive sliding scale for beer duty.
Last week the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) joined forces to lobby the government for a sliding scale in line with the rest of Europe.
Now the IFBB, which includes 33 family brewers and pub retailers, has thrown its weight behind the campaign.
"We had asked the government to follow the European model and allow tax relief for small brewers producing up to 200,000 hectolitres a year," said William Lees Jones, managing director of Manchester-brewer JW Lees & Co.
"The 30,000 hectolitre limit proposed in the Budget affects under two per cent of the market and will leave many small brewers out in the cold."
Under the proposals announced in last month's Budget only the smallest brewers - those who produce fewer than 18,000 barrels a year - will benefit from the sliding scale.
But many in the industry - including the BBPA and the IFBB - believe medium-sized companies are also suffering from competition from global brewers and national pub companies and should benefit from a sliding scale.
The Budget's proposals are put into a Finance Bill, which is currently being debated by parliament. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have tabled amendments to the Bill which are framed around their discussions with the BBPA.
"We are delighted the Conservatives are asking the Chancellor to help brewers like ourselves," said Mr Lees Jones. "We fully support their suggested amendments to raise the production threshold for tax relief to 200,000 hectolitres a year and also to allow beer produced in small breweries for export not to count towards these maximum production levels."
Meanwhile, licensees are being encouraged to put up posters in their pubs to inform customers that Gordon Brown's Budget was a "big beer con" (see below).
The BBPA has issued posters explaining to pub-goers that their beer will not be cheaper, despite the introduction of reduced duty for small brewers.
It wants licensees to pass information to their customers and make them realise that "not a single penny has been cut from the tax paid on 99.5 per cent of the beer brewed and sold in Britain".
Copies of the posters are available from the BBPA on 020 7627 9191.
Brown's Big Beer Con
The Chancellor would have you believe that, following the Budget, breweries will be saving barrels of money in tax, to be passed over the bar to you.
National press reports say "real ale cut by 14p a pint to help small brewers" and make Gordon Brown out to be the toast of the town.
In fact, if you read the small print, not a single penny has been cut from the tax paid on 99.5 per cent of the beer brewed and sold in Britain.
So pubs like ours are paying exactly the same amount in tax on our beer as we were before the Budget.
Unfortunately, therefore, so are you.
Pull the other one, Gordon!
Related stories:
MPs will lobby to force introduction of sliding scale for beer duty (2 May 2002)
Brewers slam Budget's 'misleading' duty claims (26 April 2002)
Chancellor accused of "conning" beer drinkers (18 April 2002)
Budget: Small businesses boost from red tape cuts (18 April 2002)
Budget: PPSs hit by 65 per cent duty rise (18 April 2002)
Budget: Responses from the trade (18 April 2002)
We investigate how Gordon Brown's 14p cut in duty for small brewers, announced in the Budget, will affect the trade. Read on...