Beer Duty

Sarah Dyke Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered beer duty.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. We are here this afternoon to discuss beer. I love beer, and so does Great Britain. I secured this debate to acknowledge calls from constituents, brewers and the pub sector to call on the Government to reduce beer duty by 50p. That call makes economic sense and is backed up by the industry.

My Woking constituency is home to a great little brewery called Thurstons in Horsell and Asahi’s UK headquarters—a huge brand that covers Fuller’s, Peroni and Cornish Orchards, to name just a few. The beer and pub sector in Woking supports over 1,800 jobs and contributes £100 million to our local economy, yet customers and the industry across the whole country are struggling. Pubs are much more than just businesses; they are hubs in our high streets and the centres of community life.

Why 50p? The answer lies with the new extended producer responsibility scheme. In May, MPs were talking at great length in this Chamber about how brewers currently make around 5% on the average bottle of beer. Under EPR, brewers will lose around 3p a bottle, unless they raise prices or the Government step in. The economics simply do not add up. Without action, brewers will barely make a profit on bottled beer. By reducing beer duty by 50p, the Government would offset the cost of EPR for not just producers, but the entire supply chain, and, ultimately, consumers. All the people—from farmers in their fields to brewers in their brew houses, to the people drinking in pubs—are our constituents. It is our duty to reduce beer duty.

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

Glastonbury and Somerton is home to some lovely small breweries. Obviously, we are the natural home of cider and produce some of the world’s best. Fine Tuned Brewery in Somerton is one of our brilliant little breweries. Although I recognise the Government’s intention to make the packaging more sustainable, that cannot come at the expense of our producers. Many are concerned that the EPR will be a killer nail for their businesses, making them responsible for the end-of-life management of packaging that they do not even produce; they have to buy it. Does my hon. Friend agree that the current approach to EPR will create escalating costs for producers, threatening the viability of small rural businesses in particular, such as Fine Tuned Brewery in Somerton?

[Mr Forster]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend. We were in this Chamber talking about EPR several months back; she is a fine advocate for her whole constituency, and particularly the Somerset cider industry.

I talked about our need to reduce beer duty. The Chancellor announced a 1.7% reduction in alcohol duty on draught beer and cider in the previous Budget—I will give the Government that. However, the standard rate of duty on non-draught products is set to rise by 3.6%. When combined with the cost of EPR, that will seriously threaten the brewing and bottle industry in terms of growth and investment.

The Government are finding catchy headlines to say at the Dispatch Box, but the economic picture painted is this: the Labour Government are giving with one hand and taking with the other. This debate, at its heart, is a political response to that bad economics. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs seems determined to push ahead with EPR, despite legitimate concerns raised in the Department. Meanwhile, the campaign to reduce beer duty, which has long been led by the Campaign for Real Ale and others, enjoys wide support across the industry.