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‘Seven days to save our pubs’
Wednesday 15th April 2009, 11:59AM BST.
There are only seven days left to save the British pub – according to campaigners who today started a week-long pre-Budget blitz to set out the case for a freeze in beer duty.
And fearful Shropshire campaigners echoed that call and said the trade was dying on its knees.
Eddie Main, who for 18 years was the secretary and treasurer of the Telford LVA, said: “Last March, we were talking about the trade being in its death throes.
“The situation has worsened, since then. The way I see it there won’t be many pubs left in five years. A lot of towns and villages simply won’t have a pub.”
Brewers and pubs joined the British Beer and Pub Association and Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) at Westminster today to launch the offensive ahead of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s Budget next Wednesday.
Research shows 2,000 British pubs have shut with the loss of 20,000 jobs since the Chancellor increased beer tax in the 2008 Budget by 18 per cent. A further 75,000 jobs are at risk.
Campaigners want the Government to abandon the two per cent over inflation drinks tax escalator, and pledge no further increases in excise duty in this year’s Budget.
The Axe the Beer Tax, Save the Pub campaign has received widespread public support, including the backing of MPs David Wright (Lab, Telford), Daniel Kawczynski (Con, Shrewsbury and Atcham) and Mid Wales MP Lembit Opik (Lib Dem, Montgomeryshire).
Paul Jones, from Telford & East Shropshire Camra, said: “A lot of tenanted pubs have to buy beer from the big chains, but they sell it at up to 40p per pint more than it should cost. Tenants are being ripped off.”
Mr Main added: “It’s survival of the fittest.”
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Worse than farmers for whinging,make the places welcoming,get your act together,the best run pubs will survive.
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Like the government cares about communities – they’ve closed post offices, village schools and are now working on the public houses by pushing up taxes on beer.
The pub trade is threatened by two things: the government and their punitive taxes AND the supermarkets and their loss-making alcohol sales. Both could be rectified by the government: by introducing minimum alcohol prices (per unit of alcohol), by banning loss-making alcohol sales and by taxing alcohol differently, so that beer sold in pubs has less tax than beer sold in supermarkets.
The pub is an important social feature. Young people drinking in establishments rather than in private or on the street is surely the way forward. Responsible and social drinking is passed on by drinking with older adults in pubs.
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If Pubs are such an “important social feature” then why are they not being utilised?
Times and family values have changed… people do like to go out and eat out but that doesn’t necessarily mean Pub or booze.
Quite frankly if I wanted to pay restaurant prices i’d go to a restaurant not a “good honest food” Pub at restaurant prices.
Some Pubs could offer limited simple food but specialise in live entertainment – as I say times are changing.
And Danno I agree the best pubs will survive – some Pubs are good and some offer high prices\low quality – guess which will be around in five years?
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pubs are on the way out, its the goverments drive to banish meeting places, not content with cctv camera’s watching our every move, its a orwell state. Big Brother is watching….
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I live in a village with one pub, it serves food as well as drinks. I don’t think for one moment that the landlord is raking in the cash, however I’m sure that the gaovernment (in taxes on sales and council tax) and more importantly the greedy pub chain owners are coining it for doing nothing. It is the hub of the village together with the corner shop and I use both. Cheers.
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I cannot believe any of you believe that the government you elected will listen to you.
You really are naive.
Oh and if you think the Consevatives will be any difference you really stupid.
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KarenK said “If Pubs are such an “important social feature” then why are they not being utilised?”
Well, they are. However because of the ties imposed on pub tenants by the huge national pub chains (who are massively in debt due to their own greed) and punitive taxation imposed on the drinker by HM Treasury, there are few pubs which can balance the books, even those which are busy.
Free houses (those pubs which are not part of a pub chain company) are often more successful as they can choose which beers they sell and charge the drinker what they want. Pubs which offer good service, good surroundings, good food, good beer, etc etc will do better than others too.
People should check out the CAMRA website for more information on pubs and beer, and what’s happening in the world of pubs.
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Here in the USA we who dream of (and plan on) returning to Britain, dream of travelling to any of your towns, large and small, hoping to “drop in” to any of your pubs. We do know that times change and many pubs have closed. But we hope that you find a middle road, some other source of government revenue instead of the latest beer tax.
Same for back here in the States. Most here agree that this is the wrong time to raise any taxes. Many forms of government — state, city, local — are cutting services, having employees work nine days instead of ten (in a “fortnight” pay period) — and really trying not to raise taxes.
Let me be inconsistent with the above, and suggest raising the tax on restaurant bills and and substantially lowering the beer tax applicable to pubs.
Everyone needs the conversations that pubs supply. In restaurants you speak only with the persons at your table, and maybe the staff.
Times are hard now, and British need the social support and cheer that pubs offer. We have no similar institution: our “bars” are just places to drink, or are parts of restaurants.
We would like to come over (as soon as we can) to share things with you.
Best regards.
Vince Walsh of Valley Forge, PA
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Oh Dear Phil C-S I guess you must be yet another tory trying to hijack the comments section to further your worthless cause
Im not fan of Labour but I’m certainly not naive enough to believe that Cameron is going to do anything different – other than keep his double barreled named cronies sweet of course!
As for the whole pub situation it was actually the Tories that started the whole thing by forcing the large breweries to sell off many of the pubs which are now floundering, not also helped of course by labour’s “nanny state” measures to discourage drinking.
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The old cliche use or lose it springs to mind! there are too many Pubs and not enough customers, how many people do you know who regulary go to a local pub?
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