With the Budget just a month away, CAMRA is ramping up its campaign to call on the government to keep the price of a pint down.
It is calling on the Treasury to reduce beer duty by 1p. With inflation expected to rise in the next year, the cut will help to cap the price of beer, keeping more money in consumers’ pockets and helping the pubs and brewing sector to grow, it says.
Beer duty campaigners have had some success in recent years with three consecutive penny cuts to duty and a subsequent freeze, however the UK is still paying among the highest rate of beer duty in Europe at 52.2p on the pint. This compares to other big brewing nations which pay a tenth less, such as Germany and Spain, who enjoy their beer at under 5p of duty on a pint.
CAMRA points out that the beer, brewing and pubs sector now supports nearly 900,000 UK jobs, and contributes £23.6bn to the economy every year. It believes a further cut would only help encourage investment, protect jobs and improve confidence in the sector.
CAMRA is also particularly concerned that more people are now buying their beer from the supermarket rather than the pub, choosing to drink at home rather than socialise with their friends in their local.
In an effort to help pubs, CAMRA is calling for a reduction of up to £5,000 in business rates for pubs in England which would allow pub owners to reinvest the additional funds back into the business.
