𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Britain’s pubs and distillers face a crisis and can only be saved if Rachel Reeves brings in a “complete freeze on excise duty” in next month’s Autumn Budget, the UK Spirits Alliance has warned.

The sector has submitted evidence to the Treasury as anxiety mounts about where the Chancellor will hike taxes.

The UKSA states that a measure of gin “contains roughly half the alcohol and half the calories of an average pint” but drinkers “unfairly pay more than twice the tax”. It reports that spirits now account for a third of alcohol sales in pubs, bars and restaurants but consumers face the “very real threat of being priced out”.

The body warns that one in four pubs has a distiller supplier that has gone bust.

Edward Bailey, director of Tors Vodka, Okehampton, said: “British drinkers are being punished at the bar while more than 70% of the cost of a bottle of UK-made vodka goes straight to the Treasury. We craft world-class spirits right here in the UK, yet our own Government is making it harder than ever for people to enjoy them.

“With the highest alcohol taxes in Europe, it feels like Westminster is taxing pride in British produce straight off the shelf. Ministers say they back British business and want to support pubs and hospitality. If they mean it, they need to show it – and it starts with reforming tax.”

Greville Richards, director of Saint Sithney Gin in Helston, Cornwall, added: “Pubs are more than pints. Since we launched two years ago, some of our biggest milestones have been getting Saint Sithney listed in pubs, bars and restaurants across Cornwall and beyond.

“It is wrong that British consumers are taxed up to four times more for enjoying UK-made spirits than holidaymakers abroad drinking imported ones. That disparity has very real economic consequences.

“Freezing excise duty would protect thousands of jobs, support pubs and hospitality, and allow distillers of all sizes to plan, invest and innovate. This is a sector with huge potential, but it’s future hinges on the decisions that ministers make in the next few weeks.

We need their backing now.”

A Treasury spokesperson said: “The Chancellor has been clear that at Budget she will strike the right balance between making sure we have enough money to fund our public services and ensuring we can bring growth and investment to businesses. Our distilleries are vital to Britain’s economy, so we’re making it easier for them to thrive: no export duty, lower licensing fees, reduced tariffs, and a cap on corporation tax.

“Whiskey and gin exporters are some of the biggest winners from our recent India trade deal, cutting tariffs from 150% to 40% and boosting whisky exports by £1billion.”