The Crown plans to give you a ‘Budget’ deal on beer!
Local brewers are uniting to fight any increase in the tax on beer.
John Lawrence, landlord of the recently re-opened Crown pub in New England, is leading the fight.
A third of the cost of a pint of beer is paid in taxes now, and this is likely to increase again in the Budget on Wednesday.
Lawrence told ESP – “For every three pints you order, you are in fact buying one for the Chancellor. Beer duty’s increased over 40% in the last 4 years. Literally thousands of pubs have closed in this time.
“The situation is Peterborough is just as bad; like many people, I used to enjoy the infamous ‘Crown To Town’ pub crawl. It’s more like Crown And Town now – 12 pubs along this one route have now been lost!”
The picture shows, from left, David Murray, Chairman of the Petereborough & District branch of CAMRA, local Councillor and real ale fan John Fox, Nigel Wright of Hopshackle Brewery in Market Deeping, John Lawrence landlord of The Crown in New England, Paul Waring of Digfield Brewery in Barnwell, and Richard Matthews from Mile Tree Brewery near Wisbech.
They are enjoying two-thirds of a pint of beer, representing the cost without the tax.
And on Budget day on Wednesday, The Crown will be paying the tax on every pint bought – reducing the cost of a normal pint from £2.80 to just £1.80.
Photo: Ruby Markham