Richard Holden, Member of Parliament for North West Durham, has today written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, in a letter, co-signed by over 100 MPs, calling on the Treasury to cancel the planned beer duty rise and introduce a new lower duty on draught beer sold in pubs in next week’s Budget.

The overwhelming support from colleagues comes after Richard led a push by over 80 backbench colleagues in March and met with Treasury Minister Kemi Badenock earlier this year to raise the concerns of publicans across the country around their ability to compete as they recover from the impact of the global pandemic.

Now, over 100 Conservative MPs have backed Richard’s campaign, including ex-Cabinet Ministers Sir Iain Duncan-Smith, Alun Cains and Karen Bradley. Richard’s North East colleagues Dehenna Davison, Member of Parliament for Bishop Auckland, and Paul Howell, Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, are also behind Richard’s campaign.

The current fiscal forecast has a £300 million projected increase in tax receipts from alcohol. Given the pressures on the hospitality sector, the MPs suggest that such a tax rise at the moment would be hugely difficult for the sector to manage and ask that these rises do not go ahead.

Please find attached the full letter from the 103 Members of Parliament to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Commenting, Richard Holden MP said:

“Our pubs are the heart and soul of our communities. The support given to pubs through furlough and grants throughout the global pandemic has been great but there is no denying that the hospitality sector has been hit harder than any other by the pandemic.

“That is why I am leading the call from over 100 colleagues on the Chancellor to cut draught beer duty. A cut will not only significantly bolster our much-loved pubs across our towns and villages, but also have great knock-on effects for British agriculture and employment, especially for young people in our hospitality sector.

“Over 100 fellow Conservative MPs and I hope that after a tough period, the Chancellor will give our pubs and clubs something to raise a drink to this budget.”


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Joseph is Consett Magazine's writer of all things cool. You'll see him cover topics including I.T, Business, Food, Health and Fitness, and whatever else takes his fancy. If you've got an idea for a story, contact us

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