The pub industry: a house divided?

People I spoke to last week about Alistair Darling's Budget were understandably peeved.

There was the City analyst who viewed the Chancellor's decision to increase the rate of income tax for top earners from 45 per cent to 50 per cent in terms that were frankly unprintable for a family website. There was the brewing chief executive who called for the government to go, and go now. Well, pretty much.

The Chancellor's speech contained few surprises for the pub sector, the only saving grace - if you can call a two per cent increase above the rate of inflation a 'saving grace' - being that inflation wasn't the rampaging beast it was this time last year.

But this is of little comfort to licensees who will have to make a call on whether to slap a few pence on a pint or take the hit themselves.

I was interested to see the Fair Pint boys and girls getting in on the Budgetary act too. Far from slamming the Chancellor, the organisation slammed the leaders of the industry.

"The Axe the Tax campaign was a clear attempt to serve the interests [of the British Beer & Pub Association] by diverting attention away from the way that the tie and rent reviews operate are forcing [sic] many publicans out of business," it said in a statement.

Fair Pint was described to me by Punch Taverns chief executive Giles Thorley last week as "divisive" and "of no benefit to anyone", the group as he saw it having diverted MPs' attention to the beer tie in preference to a freeze on duty.

Who knows, maybe the row about the tie among certain sections of the trade suggested to the government that here was an industry that couldn't decide what it was about and they could slap more duty on regardless?

Either way, the price will be paid in the years to come …