Thank you for your email asking me to support pubs and help
cut beer duty.
As a proud Cornishman, I have always had a great
appreciation of our pubs, of which there are many great examples in Cornwall,
and the great positive impact they can have on our communities. Since getting
elected in 2015, I am proud to have become involved the All Party Parliamentary
Group for Beer, of which I am currently a Vice Chair.
The last Labour Government did not do the pub and beer
industry any favours. From 2008 they put the infamous Beer Duty Escalator in
place, which automatically increased Beer Duty by 2% above inflation annually,
including an initial 6% hike and an additional 6% increase above inflation in
the 2008 Pre-Budget Statement. Under the Beer-Duty Escalator, Beer Duty
increased by a total of 42%, 75,000 jobs were lost and 3,700 pubs closed.
I believe it is important that we continue to support the
beer and pub industry because of the very positive impacts they have on our
communities.
For example, I have also been pleased to see The Pub is the
Hub initiative, championed by the Duke of Cornwall, having tremendous success
around the country in encouraging landlords to take all sorts of community
facilities that would otherwise have been lost into their establishments, even
allowing the community themselves to own their pubs. Pubs can also be community
hubs that promote community cohesion and initiatives like this help them to
realise their potential.
The presence of pubs in our communities, from the village
pub to the high street chains in our cities, can also discourage anti-social
street drinking, impacting positively on crime figures, and promote responsible
drinking.
Apart from these sometimes over-looked areas, the positive
importance of the brewing and pub industry to the country’s economy cannot be
under-estimated. Across the country the sector supports almost 900,000 jobs and
adds £23bn in value to the UK economy.
In Mid-Cornwall, St Austell Brewery is an important and
growing employer, exporting its own brand of Cornish beers across the country
and around the world. In St Austell and Newquay alone the beer and pub sector
supports 3091 jobs and provides £86m in value to the local economy.
With all of these major positives, I think there is more
that the Government can do to help our hard working publicans and brewers.
This is why I will be calling on the Chancellor to do a
‘Proper Job’ in the spirit of one of St Austell Brewery’s most beloved exports,
and reduce Beer Duty in the Budget.
