BBPA chief hits back at sweeping generalisations

19th September 2008, 12:03pm

Rob Hayward, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association has criticised an article in The Guardian that labelled British people as heavy drinkers and warned others against making sweeping generalisations about the pub industry.

John Harris, a journalist for the Guardian, penned an article earlier this month which stated, "…a thwack of solid state intervention is the only answer to Britain's binge drinking."

In an article for the Guardian's Comment is Free website, Hayward from the BBPA explained how talk of excess drinking and binges does nothing to stem the problem: "It is a gross exaggeration to talk of 'our descent into soused dysfunction'. In fact by some authoritative measures alcohol consumption is falling. The Office of National Statistics in January 2008 showed that average consumption was down 15% from 2000."

Hayward added: "Harris should beware too of accepting the caricature of the British as Europe's heaviest drinkers. We are in fact mid-table, 13th out of 27."

Harris claimed more taxes and regulation would encourage youngsters to drink less but Hayward hit back highlighting that the newspaper journalist has missed the point: "All the evidence is that the more the government taxes beer, the more it drives trade away from traditional pubs - which have always been the setting for sensible, social drinking - and into the supermarkets.

"So instead of learning to drink responsibly among their elders, young people are encouraged by tax rises to buy in the supermarket and drink in the streets and parks. Our polling confirms that the more tax goes up, the more this trend is reinforced."

As for taxing and the effect it has on the pub trade's custom, the BBPA chief described how increasing alcohol duty tax is simply not the answer: "Our customers are already feeling the solid thwack of swingeing tax rises, with more to come. The chancellor increased alcohol duty by 6% in the last budget and announced his intention of increasing it by 2% above inflation for the next four years. If higher beer taxes were the answer then we wouldn't have a problem, because we already have some of the highest beer duty in Europe."

And Hayward called for a carefully considered solution that doesn't involve more government intervention: "Articles like this encourage government to respond in the way it knows best, by using demands for something to be done to justify ever-increasing taxes.

"The thwack that John Harris calls for will be felt painfully not just by the minority who drink to excess, but by the overwhelming majority of people who drink sensibly. All this approach will achieve is more pubs closing, depriving responsible customers of a great tradition that needs protecting from ill-conceived government intervention."

Related Articles:

• 23 Jan 2012 - Beer sales continued to decline in 2011, finds latest UK Beer Barometer
• 14 Dec 2011 - New BBPA chairman appointed
• 18 Jul 2011 - BBPA introduces unit awareness poster campaign
• 04 May 2011 - New director of public affairs at British Beer & Pub Association
• 16 Mar 2011 - A total of 25 pubs are closing every week, says BBPA
• 09 Mar 2011 - New alcohol consumption figures prove the need for beer duty freeze, says BBPA
• 19 Jan 2011 - Beer taxes already among highest in the world, warns BBPA
• 10 Mar 2009 - BBPA chief steps down after 10 years
• 02 Mar 2009 - New poll shows public are backing local pubs

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