‘Time to get off the escalator’ says SIBA chairman
Speaking to delegates at SIBA BeerX in Sheffield, chairman Keith Bott hailed the campaign to end the beer duty escalator as the “best in all my time in this industry”.
He said, “The campaign, in which SIBA has been a partner along with the BBPA and CAMRA, has been incredibly effective in winning support from the public and from a growing number of MPs.
“All the stages in the campaign, from gathering 100,000 signatures to the petition, to getting the debate that we wanted in the House of Commons, have been the result of hard work by everyone involved, including SIBA brewers, whose relationships with their local MPs has been a huge benefit.”
As well as the BBPA and CAMRA, Bott thanked MP ‘champions’ Andrew Griffiths and Greg Mulholland for their ongoing commitment to ending the beer duty escalator. He added, “The number of MPs who are now voicing support for the escalator to stop is impressive and we can only hope that their views are being heard by the Treasury.
“After many years of meeting Treasury officials and preparing Budget submissions, and lobbying for some movement on beer duty, this year feels more hopeful than any previous ones.
“The point about escalators is that at some point you have to get off them, and if we don’t get off now, we’ll have lost our industry. We hope the Treasury has realised this as well and that next Wednesday we’ll have some good news that we can all raise a glass to.”
