PRESS RELEASE
MEP SUPPORTS CALL FOR FREEZE IN BEER TAX
Issue Date: 13th March 2012
Nikki Sinclaire Independent MEP for the West Midlands has called on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to back Britain’s beer and pub sector by calling time on planned punitive tax increases in the Budget. The move follows new figures showing the huge impact brewing and pubs have on the West Midlands economy.
Nikki Sinclaire MEP is pointing out that Britons now pay 40 per cent of the entire EU beer tax bill, but only consume 13 per cent of the beer sold in Europe. Beer taxes in the UK are now an astonishing 11 times higher than in the largest beer market, Germany.
Nikki Sinclaire MEP is backing the campaign by the British Beer & Pub Association, the Society of Independent Brewers and the Campaign for Real Ale, for the Chancellor to abandon planned +5% hike in beer duty, saving 16,000 jobs over the next three years.
According to new analysis by leading economists Oxford Economics for the BBPA:
• The beer and pub sector sustains 101388 jobs in the West Midlands
• This includes 31818 jobs for 16 – 24 year olds, who have been hit hard by the economic slowdown
• The sector adds £2,466.5 million to the regional economy
• The sector also contributes £1,141.3 million taxes to the exchequer in the region
• In total the beer and pub sector supports almost 1 million UK jobs and 46 per cent of those employed in the sector are 16 to 24 year olds
Commenting on the campaign, Nikki Sinclaire MEP said:
“These figures show how important the brewing and pub sector is in the West Midlands. I hope the Chancellor will take action to protect these jobs by scrapping the beer duty escalator. This will also help our much-loved pubs, the communities they serve and the important local facilities they provide.”
ENDS
