One licensee is sticking two fingers up at the Chancellor by taking duty off beer this Saturday to donate to a children's charity.
Darren Cheesman, of the Hit or Miss in Stamford, Lincolnshire, is furious over Alistair Darling's decision to slap 4p on a pint and raise duty 2% above inflation for the next four years.
This Saturday he will support the Campaign for Real Ale's Mild Month by taking the duty off Bateman's Dark Mild and donating it to support a local child with a rare skin disease called Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP).
"Darling may not care that he has been barred from pubs he has never heard of, but he will care that we will not vote for a party who are destroying our industry," said Cheesman.
"We don't care if you have never heard of us, because we will fight on until you know our name and do what is right.
"The duty we will not charge is to be donated to our charity fund to help a local child with XP.
"We think this is a better use of the Chancellor's money."
Cheesman has hit the town centre to get people to sign the Fight the Hikes petition and has invited his MP Quentin Davis, now of Labour, for a meeting with himself and customers.
Fight the Hikes
The MA is calling on licensees and their customers to Fight the Hikes and make Alistair Darling realise he has made a grave mistake.
GET INVOLVED
Follow these easy steps:
1. Download a Fight the Hikes Poster and put it up in your pub.
2. Download the Fight The Hikes Petition and get your regulars to join the campaign. Consumer support is vital.
3. Download Extra Petition Sheets.
4. Download the Fight the Hikes Letter and send it to your MP. It asks them to sign an EDM condemning the duty hikes, tells them about the campaign and invites them to the pub to discuss the issues first hand.
5. Find your MP's contact details here. Post or email him the letter.
6. Send your completed petitions to Fight the Hikes, Morning Advertiser, William Reed Business Media, Broadfield Park, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 9RT.
7. Join the Fight the Hikes Facebook group.
8. Take a picture of you, staff and customers with the poster and petition and email it to Ewan.Turney@william-reed.co.uk.
• Remember you can also Ban the Chancellor from your pub by clicking here.