Brewers in tax plea to Gordon; BEER MAKERS WANT FIRST STEP IN CUTTING DUTY TO MATCH EUROPE.

Byline: DUNCAN GIBBONS 

BREWING industry leaders were today pressing for a 2p-a-pint cut in duty to help counter the rising tide of smuggled beer.

The Brewers & Licensed Retailers Association wants Chancellor Gordon Brown to take 5 per cent from beer duty in next month's budget. It believes the vast difference between the duties paid in Britain and France is helping to encourage the bootlegging trade.

While UK beer drinkers pay a total of 34p in duty, the figure is 5p in France and 3p in Germany and Spain.

Ray Hoare, chairman of Coventry Licensed Victuallers Association and landlord of the Greyhound Inn, at Sutton Stop, said the idea was a step in the right direction but felt bigger strides could be made.

"We should be looking at parity with the rest of Europe," he said.

"We pay much more duty than in other countries and it is just another example of people being ripped off in Britain.

"The average man wants a few pints, perhaps some tobacco and some fuel to take his family away - these are the three things he enjoys, but are being taken away from him by the Chancellor."

A BLRA delegation was aiming to press home the case today at a meeting with Stephen Timms, Treasury financial secretary. Rob Hayward, BLRA chief executive, said: "The only winners from this policy are the criminals who smuggle beer, as higher duty rates in the UK increase the incentive to smuggle and put more money in their pockets. The losers are the Treasury from lost revenue and taxpayers who have to pay more for their beer."

More than 14,000 pubs are backing a campaign by BLRA and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

Claude Bouhayed, landlord at The Royal Oak in Attleborough, said: "The cut in duty would definitely be welcome. It certainly doesn't help the trade when people are able to buy drinks much more cheaply elsewhere."