Beer tax text message campaign targets Darling

The people of Britain have been urged to help the Axe the Beer Tax – Save the Pub campaign by sending a text message to the Chancellor urging him not to raise beer tax in next month’s budget.

A national campaign, launched today in The Sun newspaper, asks readers to text the word ‘LOBBY’ to 81025, which will send a message directly to Alistair Darling.
 
The Chancellor increased Beer Tax by 18 per cent in last year’s Budget, and reports suggest he plans to raise it again in April. However, there are clear signs that his new proposals to put up Beer Tax are increasingly unpopular:
 
·         A public opinion poll last month found that 70 per cent of the British public believed that the Chancellor is not justified in raising Beer Tax in the forthcoming budget.
 
·         198 Members of Parliament from all political parties have now signed a Parliamentary Motion (EDM 10: ‘Save the Great British Pub’) which calls on the Chancellor to scrap the planned Beer Tax increase in the Budget.
 
·         The Prime Minister, just a fortnight ago, said that he did not want the majority of moderate drinkers “to have to pay more” for the excesses of a minority.
 
David Long, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, David Long, said: “We know from opinion polls how unpopular the Chancellor’s proposals to increase Beer Tax are. We also know how unpopular they are in Parliament. Even the Prime Minister doesn’t seem to like them.
 
“Now it’s your chance to tell Mr Darling directly what you think about them. By texting the word ‘LOBBY’ to 81025, a message will be sent directly to the Chancellor urging him not to put up Beer Tax any more.”

Alan Lodge 31.03.2009