Tuesday 22 March 2011

CAMRA: The impact of beer duty rises on pubs



Yesterday CAMRA released a photofilm about the effects of rising beer duty on pubs. In their own words:
The photofilm highlights the devastating impact on pubs of successive increases in beer tax - which has gone up 26% since 2008 and is set to increase by another 7% - which could put another 10p on the price of a pint in the pub. CAMRA is calling for the Chancellor to freeze beer duty in Wednesday's Budget.
Britain already has the second highest rate of excise duty on beer in Europe, and further increases threaten the jobs, tax revenue and social benefits of beer. CAMRA is arguing that with 29 pubs closing every week, what our community pubs and pub goers need from the Government is a lifeline, not a death knell.


I like this and it gets across the message simply with some nice infographics. The images of boarded up pubs are a sad reminder of the death of the pub caused by industry complications, some of which could be treated or alleviated. It’s also a pub-focussed extension to the Proud of Beer film produced by SIBA which is another attempt to raise the profile of an industry which needs some assistance from the government, not more taxes. 


And is that Mark Fletcher from Real Ale Reviews on the right in the yellow and black shirt?!

3 comments:

  1. Shame they couldn't have done it without having a pop at the off trade, though.

    Any evidence for the assertion that the increase in off sales is leading to an increase in drinking in the streets?

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  2. That was quite good, being a photo film avoids the painful wooden acting thing the SIBA video had.

    I don't see how bashing tinnies for being too cheap helps the case against beer tax though.

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  3. Some of those images are very persuasive.

    Though, whether or not they actually persuade remains to be seen.

    I have to confess to feeling a tad pessimistic on that score...

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