This afternoon the Chancellor scrapped the beer duty escalator and cut beer duty by 1p per pint. This was following a year long campaign by CAMRA. The following message went out to members this afternoon:
This afternoon in the Budget the Chancellor said those words we have all been waiting for: “We will now scrap the beer duty escalator altogether”. He is even going one step further and cutting beer duty by 1p a pint – which will mean that pubs won’t need to increase their prices this year.
The Chancellor was very clear in his speech that he is scrapping the Escalator because of the incredible campaign by people like you over the past year – so on behalf of CAMRA, thank you for helping us get here!
Our campaign to Scrap The Beer Duty Escalator started just after the 2012 Budget. You, our members have been fantastic in the way you have supported our E-Petition which secured almost 109,000 signatures and in turn forced a Parliamentary Debate. The next step in the campaign came with the Mass Lobby Day on 12:12:12 and you continued this campaigning effort by meeting with your MPs to demand the Escalator be scrapped right up to today's Budget. Over 8,000 of you have written to your MP this year calling for a fair deal for beer and pubs.
Your determination and dedication to the Campaign has shone through in many ways, and I am so proud of what we have achieved – the first cut in beer duty since the 1970s.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that there will be other taxation threats to pubs, clubs and beer, but we will rise to those challenges and fight them to the best of our ability.
Please accept this as a personal thank you for the help and continued support you have given to this Campaign; we couldn’t have done it without you!
Best wishes.
Jackie Parker
CAMRA Director
Beer Tax Campaign