A crumb of comfort

CAMRA's pop-up bar at the
Labour Party conference in Manchester

Ed Miliband made his keynote speech to the Labour Party conference yesterday and received the mandatory standing ovation. Talking about proposals for funding the NHS, he specifically referred to increases in taxes for tobacco companies, and the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has taken some comfort in the fact that he didn't mention any increases in alcohol duty or other taxes on the beer industry. The chief executive of the BBPA, Brigid Simmonds, welcomed this omission from the speech, even though the failure to announce a policy cannot really be construed as some kind of manifesto commitment.

Personally, I think it is far too early to draw any conclusions about what Labour will do about beer duty if elected next year. It was, after all, the Labour government that introduced the extremely damaging beer duty escalator in 2008. Considering that dismal record, I can't help concluding that the BBPA is clutching at straws.

Having said that, I do know that CAMRA has a stall at the conference, as you can see in the photograph. Let's hope it's having a positive effect.

Picture pinched from Graham Donning's Facebook page - thanks, Graham.