Andrew Griffiths MP calls for beer duty cut hat-trick

All Party Parliamentary Beer Group chairman Andrew Griffiths MP has urged the Government to consider a further cut in beer duty in the 2015 Budget.

In an Early Day Motion, the Burton MP said he welcomed the ending of the beer duty escalator and the successive duty cuts in the 2013 and 2014 Budgets, but said a further cut would secure jobs in the sector, help keep pints affordable and support Britain’s much-loved pubs.

He said beer duty is now 13% lower than under the tax rises previously planned, adding that this has led to an additional 16,000 jobs and, in the first six months following the 2014 Budget, an extra £44m in investment.

The EDM has support from eight other MPs.

British Beer & Pub Association chief executive Brigid Simmonds welcomed the motion.

“I am hugely grateful to the tireless support Andrew Griffiths continues to give the UK brewing industry and the Great British pub,” she said.

“Andrew’s new EDM makes an overwhelming case for a hat-trick in beer duty cuts. We will be urging MPs from all parties to give it their full support in the run up to the Budget, and I hope others will join the campaign.”