Hugh Robertson urges Government to help save rural pubs from the economic downturn by abandoning beer duty increases

Hugh Robertson has today called on the government to abandon the planned increases on beer duty and to cancel extra regulations promised as part of a Department of Health review.

Hugh Robertson, the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, has today called on the government to abandon the planned increases on beer duty and to cancel extra regulations promised as part of a Department of Health review. He also demanded a full Parliamentary debate before rural pubs close and irreparable damage is done to the local economy in Kent where companies such as Shepherd Neame employ considerable numbers of local people.

The background to the call is the Beer and Pub Association’s findings that 36 pubs are currently closing every week – up from two a week in 2000. The recommendations of the Department of Health’s Responsible Alcohol Sales Taskforce also propose a considerable increase in regulation that will drive up costs thus forcing pubs to close.

Hugh Robertson said, “There is a huge difference between the off sales trade, which normally fuels under age drinking, and responsible drinkers in the vast majority of pubs, particularly in rural areas, who seldom cause any problem.

If the Government proceed with the planned increases in beer duty, and a raft of new regulations, the consequences will be twofold. Firstly, rural pubs will close, stripping the heart out of many communities, and secondly, towns like Faversham, which are the home to breweries, will see their local workforce hit.

Given the current economic situation, the Government should abandon these changes now”.