2,000 pubs have closed since 2008 beer tax hike

A record 2,000 pubs have now closed since the Chancellor increased beer tax in the 2008 Budget, resulting in 20,000 job losses over the last year, research revealed today.

The figures were released by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) on the day that five government ministers are due to face a cross examination by MPs at the UK Pubs Crisis Ministerial Summit.

The study follows last week's publication of research from Oxford Economics, which warned that a further 75,000 jobs are at risk in the drinks industry if the Government continues to raise beer tax every year.

Rob Hayward, chief executive of the BBPA, said: "These new figures reveal the true scale of the struggle facing the beer and pub industry.

"There was understandable political concern about the recent 850 job losses at Mini. The pub sector is losing nearly twice as many jobs every month. Furthermore, when a pub closes a family loses not only its livelihood, but its home."

In its ongoing Axe the Beer Tax campaign, the BBPA calls on the Government to abandon the 2%-above-inflation drinks' tax escalator due to start in March and pledge no further increases in excise duty in this year's Budget.

On Monday, a poll of 1,000 consumers revealed that seven in ten people are opposed to Government plans to increase beer tax in the forthcoming Budget.

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By Daniel Thomas

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