Ban George Osborne from your pub, urges licensee

28-Mar-2011 - Last updated on 28-Aug-2011 at 09:33 GMT

A licensee has started a campaign to get Chancellor George Osborne banned from as many pubs as possible across the UK. William Lea, of the Trengilly...

A licensee has started a campaign to get Chancellor George Osborne banned from as many pubs as possible across the UK.

William Lea, of the Trengilly Wartha Inn near Falmouth, Cornwall, kicked off the initiative yesterday after Osborne ignored industry calls to scrap the duty escalator in last week's Budget.

Lea told The Publican he has so far got 12 pubs to agree to the ban and has spoken to his local MP and CAMRA branch.

"I stuck a sign up in the pub and it seems to have snowballed from there," he said. "The two per cent above inflation increase is not going to help anybody, consumption is falling anyway. Overall tax revenues will drop."

The pub's Facebook page is also being used to spread the message about the campaign.

Lea, a Tory voter, added: "We're starting this campaign small and we'll see where it ends up. I'm not even sure Osborne is a beer drinker, but hopefully it will make him think twice about pubs before the next Budget."

A similar campaign was run to get Alistair Darling banned from pubs after the 2008 Budget, when the controversial duty escalator was introduced. Hundreds of drinkers backed the internet campaign and some pubs put up posters banning Darling.