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Chancellor urged to spike first increase to ‘despised’ beer duty for five years in the Budget after eleventh hour plea by Tory MPs

THE CHANCELLOR was today urged to spike the first increase to the “despised” beer duty for five years in an eleventh hour plea by Tory MPs.

The price of a pint will rise by 1.5p unless Philip Hammond calls time on a planned 3 per cent increase in the Budget. It would be the first rise in beer duty since 2012.

The Chancellor has been urged to spike a planned increase in beer duty
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The Chancellor has been urged to spike a planned increase in beer dutyCredit: Alamy

Tory backbencher Steve Double said the “much despised and dreadful” tax was already ten times higher than in Germany and Spain.

And he urged the Chancellor not to kill off the first signs of a recovery in the rural pub and craft ale sector.

Speaking in Westminster Hall, Mr Double said: “There is a revolution in the pub trade underway and now we need to do more to support it by reversing the crazy, unfair, mean spirited hikes in beer duty imposed by the former Government.”

The hike in Wednesday's Budget would be the first rise in beer duty since 2012
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The hike in Wednesday's Budget would be the first rise in beer duty since 2012Credit: PA

Some 40 per cent of all beer duty in the EU is raised in the UK despite Brits drinking just 12 per cent of the booze.

Treasury Secretary Jane Ellison vowed to listen to the call ahead of tomorrow’s Budget announcement.
Mr Double conceded the Government needed to look at duty on high-strength ciders but also the tax on lower strength beer should be reviewed to “encourage their consumption”.

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Tory MP Graham Evans urged Ministers to do “whatever they can” to help pubs and brewers despite the “important contribution” alcohol duty makes to tackling Britain’s debts.
Labour’s Toby Perkins said that while George Osborne deserved credit for bringing duty down in 2013, he also raised it through the beer duty escalator before that. “He milked it as well as abolishing it,” he said.

 

Steve Double urged Mr Hammond to reverse "the crazy, unfair, mean spirited hikes in beer duty"
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Steve Double urged Mr Hammond to reverse "the crazy, unfair, mean spirited hikes in beer duty"Credit: PA
Brigid Simmonds, British Beer and Pub Association chief executive said: “I hope the Chancellor listens.
“Would he really want to be the first Chancellor in five years to raise beer duty, when instead, he could support this great British industry, with a one penny cut?”

It comes as Brits face a 5p rise in the price of a pint because of a “crippling” tax bombshell.

More than 17,000 pubs across the UK face a whopping 19 per cent rise in their business rates from the beginning of April.


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