Freeze on beer and spirits duty... but not for wine

PUBLICANS said ‘Cheers’ to the Chancellor last night after he left the duty payable on beer, cider and spirits unchanged.

The freeze amounts to a saving of 2p on a pint of beer, 1p on a pint of cider and 30p on a bottle of whisky or gin.

The tax, will, however, be increased for wine – the most lucrative alcoholic drink for the Treasury.

Mr Hammond confirmed that last year’s duty freeze would remain for beer and spirits, including whisky – a measure that was lobbied for by Conservatives north of the Border.

Brigid Simmonds, of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: ‘Pub-goers across the UK will be toasting the Chancellor.

‘This early Christmas present will save brewers, pubs and pub-goers £110million and secure upwards of 3,000 jobs that would have been lost had beer duty gone up in the Budget.’ A spokesman for Britain’s Beer Alliance added: ‘While this is not the cut that many asked for, it shows the Government recognises the social, cultural and economic importance of pubs.’

The Wine and Spirits Trade Association estimated that the duty rise by inflation imposed on wine would raise the price of most bottles by 7p, with 9p added to sparkling and fortified wine.

Chief executive Miles Beale said that wine had been the most lucrative alcoholic drink for the Treasury since it overtook beer back in 2012.

He added: ‘The UK is the world’s biggest wine trading nation and, as such, deserves the Government’s support, not punishment.

Super-strength, cut-price white cider was also excluded from the duty freeze. Instead, it will be hit by a new rate of tax next October.

Low cost ciders and perries typically range from 6.9 per cent to 7.5 per cent alcohol

by volume, meaning a single pint contains between four and five units of alcohol, compared with a pint of 4 per cent beer which is 2.3 units.

Mr Hammond announced in last year’s Budget that he would increase duties on the drinks from 2019 to target ‘excessive consumption by the most vulnerable people’.

Duty on tobacco will continue rise at two percentage points above inflation, with an extra one percentage point added to hand-rolling tobacco.