UK alcohol duty cuts branded ‘shameful’

Chancellor George Osborne’s decision to cut alcohol duty in this year’s Budget has been branded “disgraceful” by doctors and health campaigners.

The Alcohol Health Alliance, made up of medical bodies, charities and alcohol health campaigners, made the comments in response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement Budget announcement on Wednesday.

Osborne delivered a third consecutive cut to beer duty, taking a penny off a pint, slashed duty on cider and spirits by 2%, while duty on wine was frozen.

While wine missed out on a cut, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said the decision to slash other duties was evidence that the chancellor had prioritised the interested of big business over public health.

“This decision is a slap in the face to our doctors, nurses and emergency services on the front line that are paying the price for this cut”, he said. “With over one million alcohol-related hospital attendances every year, our NHS simply cannot afford for alcohol to get cheaper.

“The government’s own figures show that alcohol-related harm costs the UK £21 billion every single year. With less than half of this recouped through current levels of taxation, to suggest lowering taxes even further is thoroughly shameful. These cuts also mean that cheap, strong alcohol that gets into the hands of our children will be even more affordable now.”

Katherine Brown, director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies meanwhile said the decision to cut tax on cider and spirits at a time when the NHS is at “breaking point” was a “total disgrace”.

However the cuts were welcomed by the trade, including the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) who have been campaigning against the “extremely high” rate of tax that UK consumers currently pay on wines and spirits as part of its Drop the Duty! campaign. Independent analysis commissioned by the WSTA and carried out by Ernst Young showed that a 2% cut in duty would boost public finances by £1.5 billion.

David Frost, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) said the cuts send as “important signal on fair taxation” to the Scotch industry’s export markets and will also allow the sector to grow in the UK. The SWA previously blamed the 5% decline of the UK market for Scotch whisky in 2014 on the country’s “excessive” levels of tax on spirits.