CLICK TO WIELD THE AXE

27-Feb-2009 - Last updated on 12-Mar-2017 at 04:31 GMT

Related tags Beer tax Alcoholic beverage Bbpa Chancellor

Pring: no more important trade campaign in living memory

Many thousands have so far signed up to the Axe the Beer Tax campaign, but more of us need to if we are to influence the Chancellor come Budget day, says Andrew Pring.

Axe the Beer Tax, the campaign being waged on the trade's behalf by the British Beer and Pub Association has got off to a fantastic start.

But it still needs a lot more of us to get behind it if the Government is to indeed "axe the beer tax" in the Budget on 22 April.

So far, 39,000 people have registered their support for the campaign via the BBPA's dedicated website or through Facebook. Of those, 13,000 have sent letters to their MPs calling for the future duty rises to be scrapped.

However, there are more than 600,000 people who work in the drinks and pubs industry. That means 561,000 have yet to tell this Government what terrible damage it is doing to our great industry by pushing forward with yet another crippling rise in duty.

Signing up to the Axe the Tax campaign — and asking for your MP's support — is such an easy thing to do through the website that all those who haven't yet done so should have a very troubled conscience. And all the more so if lack of support means the Chancellor of the Exchequer brings his duty axe down again on our collective neck come Budget day.

We at the Morning Advertiser urge you to log on to the site (www.axethebeertax.com) and register. It will only take 60 seconds. And a further 15 seconds will allow you to contact your MP with your concerns, all clearly expressed in a prepared letter that you need only click on to transmit. Making a difference has never been easier.

Axe the Tax isn't just about duty rises. It's also about helping pubs survive in these difficult times — by treating them as valued members of the community. And it's also about treating drinkers as adults who can be trusted to make the right decisions when it comes to their alcoholic consumption.

There's not been a more important campaign in living trade memory. We all know how bad it is out there. It's high time that MPs did too. Tell them, and they will undoubtedly tell Gordon and his gang.

The website also gives you display material to put up in your pub. So please log on, and tell your mates to, too.