As I sat down to have a look at the contents of the budget this evening, one thing caught my eye above all:-a whole penny a pint is to come off the price of beer, and one paper says that the average price of a pint is what it calls the 'eye watering' amount of £3.10.
Now just a minute: in my local, and elsewhere in the Thames Valley a pint of bitter is around £3.70 and most lagers are £4.10. What is the chance of my landlord knocking off that penny, as the Chancellor says he must? When he puts the beer up (a depressingly frequent occurrence) it is usually by 10 or 20 pence. So while we shall have a bit of fun winding up the landlord, I hold out no great hopes of getting an extra penny change. The penny coin is anyway quite useless and most of us put anything less than a 10p coin into the collecting box.
The other thing I read is that even if you drink the very maximum 'recommended units' in beer alone, this will save you about £3.50 a year. Woohoo!
ReplyDeleteMy local boozah is frequented by those who have hardly ever worked and spend their time drinking, smoking and playing with their latest gadget. How do they do this on just JSA?
ReplyDeleteTax up 1p = beer up 10p
ReplyDeleteTax down 1p = beer stays same
While we don't have such eye-watering prices in this part of Thames Valley - £3.25 is the norm for real ale - I did ask our landlord last night if he had taken the penny off. Yes, he said, but the brewery raised the price of a pint by 2p this morning...
ReplyDeleteOf course the duty is paid at the "brewery gate" (and it only goes down from the 25th) and is calculated based upon the strength of the beer. If they're a small brewer, then the reduction is less.
ReplyDeleteBut brewers (and all the pubcos) have put their prices up due to other factors (raw ingredients, massive debts, etc.)
So, no, it's very unlikely your pint will reduce in price.
"Penny off a pint"
ReplyDeleteIs it a joke? Are we back in the thirties and expected to touch our caps with a `thank you guv`and think maybe the toffs aren't as bad after all so lets give em another chance.
There would have been even more whining if the tax on beer had gone up. Some people just have to whinge...
ReplyDeleteJust wondering when the last positive thread was on this site.. far too much reading of the Grauniad going on IMHO.
If it means that the "beer escalator" tax has been abandoned, then it's better news than might appear at frst sight. If there's one common complaint amongst pub landlords and ladies round my way, it has been this tax. So many wonderful pubs gone, despite my best endeavours!
ReplyDelete