A North Norfolk brewer has called on the business’s constituency MP to justify a claim made by the Treasury following the chancellor’s Budget statement.
David and Rachel Holliday at their brewery in Hindringham, Norfolk
David Holliday, who co-founded Moon Gazer Ales, in Hindringham, was left dumbfounded when he read the government tweet which stated “Cutting cost for breweries, distilleries, restaurants, nightclubs, pubs and bars”.
The offending tweet remains on the Treasury’s X account.
However, the brewer contests that just because you don’t raise the price of something, it doesn’t make it a cut.
“At first I thought it was a parody account and someone making a joke, but soon realised it was serious,” he said. “It is dishonest and a lie, and I have asked our local MP (Duncan Baker) to explain the economic justification of the claim. If he can then I will be only to glad to be corrected and apologise.
“However, I can’t see it. If I was planning to put the cost of a £3 bottle of beer up by 50p next month but decided not to, it doesn’t cut the cost of that £3 beer. But that is exactly what the Treasury are asking us to believe with the duty freeze. It is false.
“The freeze is welcome and the hospitality sector need support, so the prices not going up is good news, but let’s not pull the wool over people’s eyes. Nothing is coming down in price.”
David took to social media himself and shared this video of him explaining the government’s ‘cut’ policy:
“Duncan Baker supports small businesses like ours in North Norfolk, and I respect his work and effort, but how can he stand by such a claim?” asked David. “I just want politicians of all parties to be straight with us.”
The Civil Service Code states that civil servants “must set out the facts and relevant issues truthfully, and correct any errors as soon as possible”.
Speaking more widely about the budget, David felt it was a missed opportunity. “The hospitality sector is still recovering from the perfect storm of enforced shutdowns during Covid followed by massive increases in energy costs and all input costs, from food cost to staff costs, including the increase in living wage,” he said.
“The resilience of the sector is amazing as, against all the odds, it battles to keep costs down and customers coming in. But that is not sustainable, and a recent survey showed that over 50% of hospitality have exhausted all their cash reserves and have less than three months’ reserves.
“This simply isn’t sustainable, and the recent increase in closures is only set to continue, both for financial reasons and also personal reasons, as there is only so much people can take!”
He added: “The chancellor had the opportunity to not only relieve this pressure, but reverse it with a VAT cut for hospitality to 10%, giving a much-needed cash boost. Even if operators didn’t pass on the saving, it would immediately give them an increased margin and give them a lifeline.”
He awaits the response from his MP.
