MPs sign up to oppose beer tax increase

Over 100 MPs have got behind a drive by the pub industry to change the Government's mind on beer tax increases in the next Budget.

The campaign by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), Axe the Beer Tax - Save the Pub, has attracted more than 20,000 supporters.

Now the group has a meeting with Chancellor Alistair Darling ahead of the 2009-10 Budget announcement, and it hopes to persuade the Government to cut planned tax increases before the industry declines further.

Pub closures were running at the rate of 39 a week in the second half of 2008.

Many MPs signed an Early Day Motion in support of the campaign after 10,000 people emailed them through the campaign website.

The news comes after the most recent UK Quarterly Beer Barometer, published by the BBPA, which showed that sales slumped by 8.3% in the final three months of 2008.

A spokesman for the BBPA told More Than Business News that the meeting with the Chancellor would come against the stark backdrop of the industry's struggles and that the Budget and tax escalator would be top of the agenda.

"The Government needs to rethink its plans to raise taxes over each of the next four years," he added.

"We would say that without a fairer deal from the Government the current dire trading conditions will continue."

IMAGE PA/PA Wire