67% of British public want Government to scrap beer tax increase

23rd March 2010, 8:41am

Two thirds of the British public want the Government to scrap the Beer Tax increase in Wednesday's Budget, according to a new ComRes poll released today on behalf of the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

The Chancellor is currently committed to increasing duty by 2% above inflation in this week's Budget. A large majority of the public (63% against, 33% opposed) also believe that Government tax policy should be changed so that it encourages people to choose lower strength alcohol drinks such as beer.

The poll results come on the back of a call by 40 chairmen and chief executives of Britain's leading brewers and pub companies for the Chancellor to scrap the beer duty regime imposed by the Chancellor in 2008 which has seen Beer Tax increase by 20% since then. Oxford Economics has estimated that the increase in Beer Tax will cost 59,000 jobs and lead to a £9 billion loss in economic activity.

Other main findings included 78% of people think the pub makes a valuable contribution to the economy, 61% think the Government should do more to help support and promote the pub, and 59% think Government taxation and red tape are responsible for pub closures.

Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the BBPA, said: "The beer and pub industry has been hit hard by recession with 4,000 pubs having closed over the last two years and beer sales down by £650m in the last year. Recently, we have seen some tentative signs of recovery, but this will be put at risk with more tax hikes now.
 
"The vast majority of voters agree too. They do not want to see further beer tax increases and they would like to see beer - a British-made, low-alcohol drink - taxed differently from other drinks."

Related Articles:

• 28 Jan 2010 - Beer sales could be improving, says BBPA
• 29 Oct 2009 - Beer sales slide continues to slow
• 22 Jul 2009 - Pub closures rise to record 52 a week
• 28 Apr 2009 - Beer sales continue to slide
• 22 Apr 2009 - Industry react angrily to the Budget
• 20 Apr 2009 - 90% of public want taxes reduced or frozen in Budget
• 15 Apr 2009 - MPS oppose beer tax rise

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