There is, I believe, a simple solution to this catastrophe. We do have to understand what has caused it and to be able to reverse the path we have been forced to adopt because of the weak and unfair tax decisions imposed by our elected politicians. It is they who have misunderstood, been wrongly influenced or misinformed about what was happening: In their ignorance, successive chancellors have regarded the consumption of "beer" as an easy tax "cash cow" irrespective of its alcoholic strength (abv), seemingly unaware of the damage such fallacious actions have been doing to the pub industry and sequentially, to British culture and way of life. ..Counter productive over-taxation by successive governments
It is high time that we insisted upon a radical, fundamental and fair change, both in the attitudes of our politicians towards a less harmful approach to drinking beer and to the method by which we tax what is our unique method of making it. Fiddling about with the 2% beer escalator will not solve the problems caused by what I describe above.
My solution is this:
-
Taxation should be targeted, on a sliding scale, favouring the brewing and drinking of lower gravity beers and rising incrementally with the stronger beers being proportionately penalised.
-
Taxation should start, at the lower end at 3.6% ABV. "Session Beer" and beers at or below this gravity should be zero rated - like food.
- The brewing of "Session Beers" (as above) should be exempt from Excise duty altogether.
The benefits of this discretionary beer tax would be immense:
- Higher quality, low gravity "session beers" for the working population in general and pensioners in particular - would be considerably cheaper.
- Pubs would be able to charge much less per pint of session beer, increasing their sales/consumption/profitability and become more viable as businesses.
- More drinkers would re-learn the delights of real British ale and become more descriminating in their choice of beer.
- Local micro breweries would be encouraged further. Local employment would increase and local pride in the product would return.
- Less loutish and damaging behaviour - because of the lower alcohol content of beer - saving millions to the NHS and in damage to insured premises.
- An improvement in the quality and choice of session beers and mild ale because of increased competition between breweries who would be vying to brew for quality rather than strength.
- Re-skilled Landlords in the necessary cellar skills and to a higher category of proud licensee (Governors) as before..
- Encouragement and re-establishment of more local pubs with less reliance on cars and distance to travel. The consequent reduction in drink related accidents.
- The re-vitalising and re-instating of "the local" with all the social benefits, much appreciated before.
- The re-establishment and improvement of the unique, much loved, British Pub as opposed to its sadly lacking continental imitation which is already subjugated to the mass market..
- An increase in locally based labour.
- Fairer for the less well off but - as it is a matter of personal discretion and choice - the same tax revenue over all.
- The return of great benefits to the tourist industry because of the uniqueness of what was "the British pub" (there is nothing like it elsewhere in the world)
- The reduction in the strangle-hold and power of conglomerates and the concentration of their minds on the improvement of their larger collective road houses.
- Greater variety of local pubs, influenced by their local customers', demands. Music, darts, cribbage, shuv'happeny, bar skittles, piano, bingo, billiards, tele-sports -etc
- Encouragement of fresher food supplied by local producers and Chef Patrons.
- Higher prices/taxes for the higher gravity and lager beers would maintain choice but at a cost which would reduce volume and the consumption of alcohol by volume.
- Real ale, session beer prices would compete more fairly in favour of licensed pubs, levelling the current "unfair playing field" between supermarket cheap off-the-shelf beers and beers from properly licensed premises.
- Policing costs would be reduced because of the local and more controllable nature of drinking.
- Reduction of pressure on social services related to domestic drink related problems.
- Encouragement and re-invigoration of the English hop farmers, the barley farmers and malting industries.
Please Note these underlying facts:
-
The real ale drinker knows that there is absolutely no correlation between the quality of beer and its alcoholic content.
- The "lager" and "Keg" beer drinker accepts or has been persuaded that the higher the alcoholic content, the higher the quality and price of the beer.
- Lager or "Keg" beer - being a sterile, filtered and carbonated product - is hugely more profitable for the Large Brewery/Pub Companies to brew, sell, distribute, store, look after and dispense, than cask conditioned beer. This is a matter of scale, filtration, carbonation, volume, storage and clever marketing rather than concern over quality, social responsibility and the tastes and culture of the beer drinking public..
- The skills and knowledge required to brew, keep and serve cask conditioned beer are much greater than those involved with lager or keg beers. By its very nature, there is greater pride in its production, delivery and service and an emphasis on quality rather than strength.
- Here is a scale which shows the amount of alcohol by volume in various common drinks and highlights the vital dangers caused by the demand for ever stronger beers and wine.
What has this meant to our pub industry?
- Supported by the huge marketing advantages held by the major players (who, not surprisingly, prefer to manufacture lager beers as described in another page) the price of supermarket canned beer has tended to support the consumption of the stronger carbonated beers "in a domestic environment" rather than the local pub. They have thus completely changed the nature of pubs which all now, in their larger form, are compelled to serve food in order to survive and have destroyed a precious British culture and completely unique and harmless aspect of life.
- The reason for drinking beer has completely changed - now tending to be based, not on the quality of the product served up in the pub in a socially acceptable environment, but on its alcoholic strength - crudely speaking - in its ability to intoxicate.
- This not only favours the larger outlets and makes the smaller local pub close but also forces customers to drive further to their nearest larger and less personal establishement.
- The reason for going to the pub, has fundamentally changed from being a more social and local construct where many more pubs used to sell great cask conditioned ales at a considerably lower gravity and price (ie "session" bitter circa 3.6% and mild beer circa abv 3.3%), to the bigger, more remote and larger concerns intent on selling, not only the stronger beers but considerably more besides in terms of other services.
- There is very little skill in the service and keeping of lager beers and just for the same reasons as "Keg" beer was forced upon us, we are reducing the skills required, the quality of the beer and cheapening the value of the good landlord, the labour force, together with the pride in what they used to do.
- Unscrupulous Pub Co's are tying their tenants to beers, at sometimes nearly twice the free market value (this is a whole new phenomenon)