Responding to the Chancellor’s decision to freeze alcohol duty at the Spring Budget today, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, said:
“Increasing alcohol duty is one of the most effective ways to increase Treasury revenue, reduce alcohol harm and protect the NHS. It is appalling that once again the Chancellor has passed on the opportunity to boost government spending and improve public health, in favour of a tax break for the multibillion-pound alcohol industry.
“At a time when we are experiencing record-high alcohol deaths and public finances are under extreme pressure, increasing duty is fundamental in reducing the burden caused by alcohol. The tax cut afforded to the alcohol industry today is the result of lobbying from powerful multinational corporations. It further highlights the need for an automatic duty escalator to be reinstated to protect the decision from the influence of industry each year.
“What’s more, we know that the majority of the public support increasing alcohol duty to raise revenue and reduce harm. We will continue to press the government to take proportionate action and automatically uprate alcohol duty each year to save lives and boost the public purse.”
