Abena speaks out, another U-Turn on Alcohol Duty

I recently popped into the Standard, a pub in my Erith and Thamesmead constituency, which is really struggling with soaring energy bills and the lack of Government support. It needs the Government to be on its side.

Today the Government  announced they are freezing alcohol duty rates for six months.  I spoke out on behalf of British venues like the Standard who are concerned about this  sudden change after  the previous Chancellor announced a freeze, the current Chancellor scrapped it, and now it is back on.

This government isn’t providing the certainty that businesses and their hard-working employees need in order to plan for the tough winter ahead. Labour believes the alcohol duty system could be reformed to make the system  “simpler, more economically rational and less administratively burdensome on businesses and HMRC.”

You can watch my speech using the following link here, and you can read my speech here