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Drinkers will be saying cheers to cheaper pints this summer after MPs finally called time on hated EU booze rules. Thanks to a new \u201cBrexit pubs guarantee\u201d the tax on draught beer and cider sold in pubs will remain frozen from August 1.<\/p>\n
It means duty on ale, cider and lager in much-loved locals will be 11p cheaper than supermarket booze.<\/p>\n
The change was only made possible because Britain left the EU.<\/p>\n
Under EU rules it was illegal for the duty rate on beer and cider sold in the supermarket to be different to that in pubs.<\/p>\n
It is part of a wider move to simplify the alcohol duty system.<\/p>\n
Before the measure was passed in parliament Treasury minister James Cartlidge told the Commons: \u201cWe are going to guarantee from August onwards the duty will always be lower on a pint in a pub than on the equivalent in a supermarket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seizing the opportunity now that we have left the EU, enjoying the freedom to set our own rules based on this country\u2019s values and our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move comes as the pub and hospitality sector continues to reel amid a perfect storm of the fallout from Covid, price hikes and an alarming rate of closures.<\/p>\n
The pandemic, ongoing cost-of-living crisis and supply chain chaos has seen hundreds of hostelries shut their doors permanently.<\/p>\n
Mr Cartlidge said: \u201cPubs bind this country together; it\u2019s where we share heart-pounding moments of sporting drama, a hard-earned drink at the end of the week, or a sunny Saturday in a beer garden.<\/p>\n
Yet this proud national institution has endured tough times of late. From having to close their doors during the pandemic, to high energy costs caused by Putin\u2019s war. But we are standing with the Great British pub.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are giving pubs a new permanent competitive advantage, we are levelling the playing field against supermarkets for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The changes, which were first announced in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt\u2019s Budget last month, were welcomed as a \u201cpositive step\u201d by the hospitality industry.<\/p>\n
The price of a beer fell in February for the first time in more than two years, but only by 1p.<\/p>\n
A pint of draught lager typically cost \u00a34.23 compared with \u00a34.24 in December.<\/p>\n
Bitter drinkers are faring slightly better as a pint fell 3p from \u00a33.60 in December to an average of \u00a33.57 in February.<\/p>\n