MPs Vote to Review UK Beer Tax

U.K. members of Parliament (MPs) have reportedly agreed to revisit a beer
duty escalator tax that raises the price of a pint each year by 2 percent plus
the rate of inflation. According to media reports, Conservative MP Andrew
Griffiths argued in the House of Commons that the current beer tax has cost
the country thousands of jobs as beer sales decline and pubs are forced out
of business. The debate purportedly concluded with 100 MPs voting to review
the tax despite Treasury Minister Sajid Javid’s concern that the government
would lose £105 million over the next two years if it were abolished.

“The reality is since the introduction of the beer duty escalator [in 2008], beer
duty has increased by a crippling 42 per cent,” said Griffiths, who chairs the
All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group. “The point about an escalator is you stop
when you get to the top. We have now reached the top and we are in danger
of going off the edge of a cliff.” See Burton Mail, November 2, 2012.