Come on Darling

The Budget is on 12 March. Mr Darling's first Budget no less. Let us hope for no increase in beer duty. We all deserve a break. Did you know the UK has one of the highest beer duties in Europe? Only Ireland and Finland are (marginally) higher. For a country with a brewing tradition and heritage like the UK, that is diabolical. Can you imagine the French having one of the highest wine duties in Europe? No. They want to promote their own winemakers and try and stimulate growth. They don't take every opportunity to squeeze tax revenue from them.

Come on Mr Darling. Let's start reducing duty!

Pence per pint duty in some European countries (5% ABV beer)
Austria 9.4
Belgium 8.0
Cyprus 9.5
Czech Republic 3.9
Denmark 13.4
Estonia 7.3
Finland 38.1
Germany 5.1
Greece 3.7
Hungary 9.1
Ireland 38.9
Italy 11.1
Latvia 3.7
Lithuania 4.0
Luxembourg 3.7
Malta 3.5
Netherlands 9.8
Poland 8.3
Portugal 6.3
Roumania
Slovakia 6.3
Slovenia 13.4
Spain 3.9
Sweden 30.6
UK 37.7