Scrap the beer tax to save our pubs (From Daily Echo)

I suppose it's mostly champagne and brandy that's being swilled in the House of Commons bar! It is outrageous what we have to pay in taxation on a pint.

The tax on a price of a pint is shocking. The government also need to scrap Vat on food in pubs and restaurants so they can compete on equal terms with supermarkets.Otherwi
se there will be more pub closers. Keep people in employment and get the tax in that way.

Just cut tax in pubs & increase it in the Supermarket then there would be no loss of revenue pubs saved & no young teenagers hiding there smell of cannabis under the smell of the cheap alcohol some idiot has bought for them in the supermarket

Southampton Itchen MP John Denham condemned Enterprise Inns and Tesco over the closure of the Castle Pub in Midanbury, saying residents had been kept in the dark over the pub’s change of ownership.
He said: “It was deeply unpopular with the 600 people who signed a petition in the area, partly because they didn’t want to lose the pub, partly because they didn’t want a Tesco.

more like 200 people signed three petitions and possibly less as I know of several popel that have signed more than once and Teso have sent a letter to all households in the area oulining their plans so I would hardly call that being kept in the dark, a lot of local residents are happy to see the pub closed and are looking forward to having a local shop that sells decent food.

Scrap the smoking ban and I will start using pubs again.How many more people would then go back to the pubs?Before the "smoke police" moan they should consider the idea of smoking pubs and non-smoking pubs thus giving people a choice in our tolerent big society.Problem is non-smoking pubs would be empty!

beiroot wrote:
Scrap the smoking ban and I will start using pubs again.How many more people would then go back to the pubs?Before the "smoke police" moan they should consider the idea of smoking pubs and non-smoking pubs thus giving people a choice in our tolerent big society.Problem is non-smoking pubs would be empty!

I don't smoke but a pub with a decent Air con is okay for me.
other pubs where the air is thick & the Air con isn't on means I have to leave.
But I agree with you if I knew a pub would be bad I wouldn't go in there (thick smoke)
we all had choices so did the bar staff if they didn't smoke they could go to a non smoking pub.
Maybe if the bars were separated as in the old pubs one could be for smokers & one for non smokers?
But this doesn't answer to the unfairness of the tax on Alcohol. I can buy four cans of Lager for the same price ( nearly) as a pint from a pub they should change the tax so it costs less in a pub & more in the supermarket

RIP British Beer & the "Pub"

loosehead wrote:
Just cut tax in pubs & increase it in the Supermarket then there would be no loss of revenue pubs saved & no young teenagers hiding there smell of cannabis under the smell of the cheap alcohol some idiot has bought for them in the supermarket

I totally agree. A pub is (or should) be a much more controlled environment to sell alcohol. I'm sure antisocial behavior will reduce if they hiked up supermarket prices and cut pub prices.

When you have lost your inns," wrote the poet Hilaire Belloc in the 1930s, "drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England.

"Mr Javed rejected the claim that hikes on beer tax were killing pubs, pointing to the large number of closures in the early 2000s – before the “escalator” was introduced."
those closures were largely due to greedy landowners cashing in on the property boom. this tax is another nail in the coffin for the traditional English pub.
supermarkets should be banned from selling alcohol as a loss-leader or at bulk discounts.
The government needs to stop shifting responsibility for the social problems relating to alcohol misuse, and accept that flaws in current policies could be largely to blame.

We should return to our old licensing laws and times, the only people that should be allowed to sell alcohol should be pubs and proper off-licences the only alcohol available in any other shops whether that be the corner shop or a supermarket should be wine as an accompaniment to food, all clubs etc should close at 1am then that would stop people getting tanked up before they go out and it would also mean that we don't have to have half our police force on the streets all night to control the drunks thereby leaving more officers to do their job during the hours most people want. Extended opening hours was an experiment that failed dismally for some reason we have a totally different approach to alcohol in the U.K. unlike most of europe who have had far better access to alcohol than we have but manage to be far more responsible about its consumption. Alcohol is far more damaging than smoking yet for some reason the government has failed to treat drink in the same way they have victimised smokers.

skin2000 wrote:
The tax on a price of a pint is shocking. The government also need to scrap Vat on food in pubs and restaurants so they can compete on equal terms with supermarkets.Otherwi

se there will be more pub closers. Keep people in employment and get the tax in that way.

Should read pub closures....could never spell.

dolomiteman wrote:
Southampton Itchen MP John Denham condemned Enterprise Inns and Tesco over the closure of the Castle Pub in Midanbury, saying residents had been kept in the dark over the pub’s change of ownership.
He said: “It was deeply unpopular with the 600 people who signed a petition in the area, partly because they didn’t want to lose the pub, partly because they didn’t want a Tesco.

more like 200 people signed three petitions and possibly less as I know of several popel that have signed more than once and Teso have sent a letter to all households in the area oulining their plans so I would hardly call that being kept in the dark, a lot of local residents are happy to see the pub closed and are looking forward to having a local shop that sells decent food.

Firstly,we live 3 minutes from the Castle and we haven't received any letter from Tesco.
Secondly,why would we want yet another Tesco Express in the area when we already have 4 within a mile radius not to mention 3 or 4 Co-ops?

I take it you are not familiar with the area! Or you work for Tesco (or a shareholder).
Oh and thirdly,where did you get the notion that they sell "decent" food?

The way forward has got to be self contained Micro breweries.
Where the Landlord is the owner & they brew their own beer.
Straight away you take out the exorbitant rents & hiked up alcohol prices the landlords are charged by the likes of Enterprise Inns & other such companies.
Lower costs lower beer prices =more beer sold =more profit =more sensible pubs.
If in life we only did what was right for our health there would be no motor industry as we'd walk or ride a push bike.
they have found alcohol in ancient Egyptian Tombs,Holy Communion is about the bread & the wine it says nothing in the Bible about the non alcoholic wine does it? so it was good enough for Jesus Christ so why not us?
Would we need a Health Service if we were all perfectly healthy? does not alcohol in moderation destroy cholesterol ?
We hear it's costing the health service millions yet they get Billions through tax so they're being paid to treat people who partake excessively so why keep on trying to stop it?

loosehead wrote:
The way forward has got to be self contained Micro breweries.
Where the Landlord is the owner & they brew their own beer.
Straight away you take out the exorbitant rents & hiked up alcohol prices the landlords are charged by the likes of Enterprise Inns & other such companies.
Lower costs lower beer prices =more beer sold =more profit =more sensible pubs.
If in life we only did what was right for our health there would be no motor industry as we'd walk or ride a push bike.
they have found alcohol in ancient Egyptian Tombs,Holy Communion is about the bread & the wine it says nothing in the Bible about the non alcoholic wine does it? so it was good enough for Jesus Christ so why not us?
Would we need a Health Service if we were all perfectly healthy? does not alcohol in moderation destroy cholesterol ?
We hear it's costing the health service millions yet they get Billions through tax so they're being paid to treat people who partake excessively so why keep on trying to stop it?

With thinking like that your name appears to be quite apt could it be that you are southy in disguise.

ohec wrote:

loosehead wrote:
The way forward has got to be self contained Micro breweries.
Where the Landlord is the owner & they brew their own beer.
Straight away you take out the exorbitant rents & hiked up alcohol prices the landlords are charged by the likes of Enterprise Inns & other such companies.
Lower costs lower beer prices =more beer sold =more profit =more sensible pubs.
If in life we only did what was right for our health there would be no motor industry as we'd walk or ride a push bike.
they have found alcohol in ancient Egyptian Tombs,Holy Communion is about the bread & the wine it says nothing in the Bible about the non alcoholic wine does it? so it was good enough for Jesus Christ so why not us?
Would we need a Health Service if we were all perfectly healthy? does not alcohol in moderation destroy cholesterol ?
We hear it's costing the health service millions yet they get Billions through tax so they're being paid to treat people who partake excessively so why keep on trying to stop it?

With thinking like that your name appears to be quite apt could it be that you are southy in disguise.

So please explain what I've said you disagree with?
Alcohol puts in billions through taxes into the health service.
Cigarettes pumped in £75billion into the treasury out of that £35billion was given to the health service.They complained about the millions they said cigarette related illnesses were costing them but nothing about the £35billion they received .
Now the health Nuts are attacking alcohol yet they have to be careful as it is scientific fact it destroys cholesterol in the bloodstream yet they still attack one of the biggest indirect funders of the health service.
I don't smoke ( never have) but if it's that bad why not ban it?
Alcohol isn't bad in moderation yet they're trying to price it out of our reach?
I know people who say they can buy illegal drugs cheaper than a pint is that the way the health service & the Government want to go?
PLEASE explain to me what I've said wrong?

@ loosehead To answer your question " If its so bad why not ban it?"

You have already posted the answer to your own question which is 75billion income. Thats why.

If you think the gov cares about your health you live in lala land. Government is business. business likes profit. You are a reasource that makes profit. Hence every company has a "Human resources" departament....

BUT they have to be seen as caring and offer some distractions so you dont revolt and spiral into anarchy thus removing the establishment of government.

As to your query about jesus christ drinking wine?

I think he would not approve of chantele or alesha wearing a scarf around her waist in december/january, stumbling into her own pile of vomit, at 3 am, expecting everyone to pay for her to be taken to hospital or home because shes too smashed.

As to why other european communities being able to get served 24/7 e.g. poland, not having a problem like this every friday and saturday night in EVERY city centre?

They dont have as much money to spend. They have to save. There will be no dole for them.

Personaly, from experiance, alcohol is much more dangerous then other drugs avaliable. Shoudl be sold and consumed in a controlled enviorment e.g pub.

Subject48 wrote:
@ loosehead To answer your question " If its so bad why not ban it?"

You have already posted the answer to your own question which is 75billion income. Thats why.

If you think the gov cares about your health you live in lala land. Government is business. business likes profit. You are a reasource that makes profit. Hence every company has a "Human resources" departament....

BUT they have to be seen as caring and offer some distractions so you dont revolt and spiral into anarchy thus removing the establishment of government.

As to your query about jesus christ drinking wine?

I think he would not approve of chantele or alesha wearing a scarf around her waist in december/january, stumbling into her own pile of vomit, at 3 am, expecting everyone to pay for her to be taken to hospital or home because shes too smashed.

As to why other european communities being able to get served 24/7 e.g. poland, not having a problem like this every friday and saturday night in EVERY city centre?

They dont have as much money to spend. They have to save. There will be no dole for them.

Personaly, from experiance, alcohol is much more dangerous then other drugs avaliable. Shoudl be sold and consumed in a controlled enviorment e.g pub.

I was trying to put over that exact point

ahh.. my pardons. I did not quite get your post good sir!