Cut in beer duty under consideration by chancellor

Prime minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering a cut in beer duty ahead of the Budget next week.

During Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Conservative MP for Clacton Giles Watling said: “Now we’re out of the EU, surely we can do as we please with beer duty? Differentiation in favour of on-sales could deliver great benefits to pubs.”

The prime minister responded: “There is just such a review being carried out after consulting pub owners and brewers and others, and I know that the chancellor is looking very closely at the findings.”

CGA research last year found that more than a third of brewers said a cut in beer duty should be a government priority on reopening, as did one in five pubs.

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has also been calling for the rate of duty on beer served on tap in pubs and social clubs to be lowered to help them compete with supermarket sales when they can reopen.

Reducing the tax on beer depending on how it is served is an option the government can take to support the industry now that the UK has left the European Union. The group said the move would help make pub-going more competitive against booze on offer at supermarkets.

Photo: Shutterstock