Call to raise off-sales tax and cut pub prices
An MP has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak demanding alcohol tax changes to save Scotland’s hospitality industry.
Kenny MacAskill, who has defected from the SNP to Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, wants to increase duty on off-sales in order to cut rates charged in pubs and restaurants.
He believes the plan could help save jobs while reducing harmful drinking at home.
The scheme is backed by research from the Social Market Foundation (SMF) think tank which suggests a 75 per cent discount on alcohol duty in the on trade, offset by a 34 per cent increase on the off-sales trade would be revenue neutral for the Treasury.
That would equate to a potential 36p reduction on a pint in a pub with an increase of 14p on a can in an off-sales or supermarket.
The SMF claims harmful drinkers account for 32 per cent of revenue in off-sales – yet only 17 per cent in pubs.
MacAskill said: “Some hospitality may be reopening tomorrow but many pubs will remain shut forever unless action’s taken.
“It’s time to save our pubs. The Chancellor’s review of alcohol duty offers an opportunity and I’m calling on him to seize it.
“A modest increase on a can from a supermarket will allow for a reduction on a pint in a pub. It’ll keep pubs alive and ensure venues which are community assets remain open.
“Supermarkets have made fortunes through selling alcohol during lockdown, it’s time pubs were supported.”
Paul Waterson, of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: “We couldn’t do this while we were in the EU but we can now and it is something that we should be looking at seriously.
“The pandemic has caused so much damage to pubs, bars restaurants and so on and this would be a way of helping that industry while also helping to combat problem drinking.”