Chancellor attacks pubs ~ again

The Chancellor has refused to listen to public opinion and in the recent budget raised beer tax yet again, despite the loss of 2000 pubs and 20,000 jobs in the past year alone. “New” Labour claims to be pro-business, and yet it insists on attacking the tens of thousands of small businesses that we call pubs, which are closing down in record numbers. On the other hand, profligate banks have received a fortune in taxpayers' money, and pubs are seen as a cash cow to help pay for the deficit so caused. But pub income is not a bottomless pit, and pubs are increasingly becoming unaffordable for ordinary people, thereby putting livelihoods and communities under threat. If you think this an exaggeration, go and ask a few licensees.

As I have pointed out previously, you can buy a bottle of 37.5% vodka in supermarkets for under £7. In alcohol terms this is equal to 12 or 13 pints of standard beer, and when you work out the pub price of that, it’s obvious where those who simply want to get completely legless are likely to go.

For many people, their local is like a club where they know the staff and other customers, where they are greeted by name, and can meet their friends. In contrast, drinking cheap supermarket booze at home on your own is a much less attractive activity and for vulnerable people likely to lead to worse binge drinking through isolation and depression.

Is this what “New” Labour really wants? Secret, unregulated binge drinking at home? Or sociable controlled drinking in company in pubs? The tax regime favoured by “New” Labour actively encourages the former.