Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's ‘Brexit pubs guarantee’ is no good for wine drinkers - Jayne Dowle

As my preferred tipples are a G&T or a nice chilled glass of white or rosé, I’m not happy. As if life wasn’t tough enough right now. However, my own personal budget readjustment – in an idle moment over the weekend I even started to research how I might learn to brew my own gooseberry wine this summer – means nothing compared with the potential effect this new levy could have on hospitality businesses.

Brexit? I don’t know about you, but it’s seven long years since the referendum and I simply cannot recall anything about any kind of “pub guarantee”.

I do remember ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage spending a lot of time in ye olde-worlde type hostelries on the campaign trail, channelling his inner Terry Thomas.

Apparently, Mr Hunt is technically correct that his draught beer measure would not have been possible without Brexit, because under EU rules alcohol duty does not allow differentiation by package type, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) confirms.

Under EU rules, the Chancellor would have had to cut duty on all beer, including that sold in bottles or cans in supermarkets, as well as draught pints.

Still, with the number of UK pub and bar companies calling last orders rising by more than 180 per cent – from 280 to 512 – between 2020 and 2021 amid surging costs and falling sales, according to recent research by accountancy group UHY Hacker Young, any government intervention that can help keep pubs open and employing people has to be a good thing.

I’m not as misty-eyed as Mr Hunt about pubs. It’s a hard trade, made even harder by recent political, social and economic events. Addressing the Commons, the Chancellor said he was protecting “the most treasured community institutions, the great British pub” by freezing draught beer duty.

I worked 13-hour shifts in pubs as a student, my son worked in a hotel when he was at college and my 17-year-old daughter works part-time in a pub now. I know how tough it is, especially in the face of rising energy bills and the cost-of-living crisis impacting on disposable incomes, to keep going day after day. Anything which can help ease the situation can’t be discounted.

However, freezing duty on draught alcoholic drinks served in pubs whilst hammering wine drinkers seems to me an antediluvian step which totally ignores the fact that many people who indeed frequent those “treasured community institutions” might not opt for a pint of the landlord’s finest ale, but prefer something a little less hearty.

At the expense of preserving the great British pint, he’s gone straight for wine and spirits. Is that what he really means by a Brexit pubs guarantee? That he’ll preserve the ethos of Merrie England whilst launching what’s believed to be the biggest raid on wine duty for 50 years?

It’s reported that the 20 per cent tax hike will mean a 44p increase in the price of a bottle of wine with an ABV of more than 12.5 per cent, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), while a bottle of vodka could rise by 76p and port lovers will be £1.30 out of pocket per bottle.

Perhaps he doesn’t get out much, but does Mr Hunt not know that even the chaps are partial to a glass of rosé these days? Does he not realise that those same pubs he seeks to cherish also serve wine and spirits, and will be hit by the new duty?

There is a really important thing called “the supply chain” which means that the increased cost of wine and spirits will also be picked up by pubs, hotels and restaurants, delivering further blows to businesses still struggling to get back on their feet after pandemic lockdowns.

The WSTA said it is “deeply disappointed” that the Chancellor had “chosen to stifle British business and punish the UK’s cash-strapped consumers” by increasing wine and spirit duty.

If that’s what Mr Hunt means by Brexit bringing benefits to Great Britain, I think he better take his beer goggles off.