The duty charged on draught pints is to be frozen to help “the great British pub”, the Chancellor has announced.
While drinkers will see tax on other alcohol soar by 10.1 per cent in August in line with inflation after a freeze during the peak of the cost-of-living crisis, Jeremy Hunt set out a separate rule which will see the duty on draught pints in pubs drop to up to 11p lower than in supermarkets.
Hunt said: “My penultimate cost-of-living measure concerns one of our other most treasured community institutions, the great British pub.
“In December, I extended the alcohol duty freeze until August 1, after which duties will go up in line with inflation in the usual way.
“But today, I will do something that was not possible when we were in the EU and significantly increase the generosity of Draught Relief so that from August 1 the duty on draught products in pubs will be up to 11p lower than the duty in supermarkets, a differential we will maintain as part of a new Brexit pubs guarantee.
“Madam Deputy Speaker, British ale may be warm, but the duty on a pint is frozen.
“And even better, thanks to the Windsor Framework negotiated by my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, that change will now also apply to every pub in Northern Ireland.”
The speech got a pretty frothy reaction on social media, with several people pointing to the troubles many breweries and pubs have already endured due to Brexit.
Take a look at the reaction below:
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