Wednesday 12 March 2008

Bootleg Budget



Today our badger-look alike Chancellor imposed a rise in the duty for beer of 4p a pint - this translates as almost 15p a pint when the customer pays for a pint over the bar. Or to put it another way, a small-scale brewery will be paying an extra £20k a year in revenue to the Government. A fantastic way to support our small businesses with a recession on the way.

If the storms were not so bad, you could see the white vans heading to Dover to stock up on cheap French booze. A bootleg budget like this will only benefit the ferry operaters, owners of Calais hypermarkets and the French alcohol industry. It does not benefit our pubs with almost 700 closing last year, it does not benefit our growing brewing industry and it does not benefit the customer who from Sunday will see an unjustified increase the cost of their pint.

Can you see any other country in Europe taxing and treating their businesses in this way?

And where is all this money raised from increasing the price of a pint? No doubt to buy more cans of Argentinian baked beans for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This Government won't even support the farmers or food factories in this country by buying their produce to feed our troops so what chance does any food producer or brewery in this country have of Government support. Or the money will be going to Nothern Rock, in order to stop Labour MPs being voted out of their North East seats at the next election.

The result of this budget - the average beer drinker hit harder in the pocket and more pub closures. A budget for bootleggers and a bonus for the owners of foreign hypermarkets.


At least the chimp could not make such a bad job of being Chancellor as Darling does.

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