Neame: Beer duty must be cut
The Chancellor will be guilty of "gross cultural vandalism" if he does not cut duty on beer in his Pre-Budget Report to help save community pubs — that's the view of Shepherd Neame boss Jonathan Neame.
Writing in the Times, Neame pointed to the fact that despite a 9% increase on alcohol duty at the last Budget, the average price of alcohol in supermarkets has gone down while community pubs have suffered.
"The British pub, once the cherished heart of its community, has been brought to its knees by multilayered petty bureaucracy and excessive taxation," he said.
"Thirty-six pubs close each week, a figure that is set to accelerate. Most people in the country want to have a strong, vibrant pub near them, characterised by great beer, good food and wine and, crucially, good ambience and fellowship. Such pubs exist, but they are struggling against a Government that has come to regard pubs as a tax-collection point on one hand and a social problem on the other.
"In today's Pre-Budget Report I hope that HM Treasury will stand up for beer and pubs and recognise what their figures have shown them for five years: raising taxes on beer does not increase revenue, but simply squeezes the producer, closes pubs and reduces VAT. A few economic chickens have come home to roost recently ... but there is room for one more.
"Beer (a low alcohol drink) and pubs (a controlled environment) are, in my view, part of the solution to our broken and fragmented society, not part of the problem. And at a time of economic downturn, the one thing we need to maintain, in particular, is social cohesion.
"If the anti-alcohol arguments and punitive taxes prevail, then it will be the good guys — the community pubs, the small brewers, the local cider makers, small wine makers — and not the irresponsible retailers that are most at risk. And if we lose them, we will have experienced an act of gross cultural vandalism."
Check back here later for a summary of the Pre-Budget report.
