Beer mats carry a pub health warning, about beer tax

23-Oct-2017 - Last updated on 23-Oct-2017 at 15:53 GMT

Drink up: Beer mats urge punters to complain to MPs about beer duty

It’s enough to make you cry into your beer! Drinkers can now stare through the bottom of their glass at a beer mat featuring the word ‘tax’ – something no one really wants to read about but a necessary evil given the financial pressures pubs are facing.

This particular beer mat is highlighting the issue of beer duty.

More than 200,000 ‘Cut Beer Tax’ beer mats are being given to 2,000 pubs as part of a campaign from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

Tax hike over 10 years

The mats emphasise the huge 39% tax rise that beer drinkers have endured over the past 10 years.

Some of the pubs sporting the mats are near the Houses of Parliament and customers are encouraged to follow the link on the mats to the BBPA campaign website, cutbeertax.co.uk, where they can write to their MP to make their concerns about the issue known.

The BBPA is calling for a 1p cut in beer tax in the Autumn Budget, which is on 22 November.

Where can I get some mats?

Most of the mats have been distributed nationally through BBPA members but individual pubs that want to join in the campaign can apply for them.

The mats have been produced with the help of the Taxpayers’ Alliance and chief executive John O’Connell said: “UK beer duty is already three times the EU average.

“We’ve already had a 4% rise this year, and with current economic uncertainty, pubs, their workforces, and their customers simply can’t afford another tax increase.”