A pint will cost £6.47 by 2012
Fraser Nelson 4:38pm
The Sun’s Budget coverage today spells out the real-life impact of yesterday’s tax increases. Darling’s booze taxes grow with time and by the 2012 Olympics a pint will cost £6.47. Its case studies “Why you benefit if you’re on benefits” has a brilliant example of a £14k-a-year call centre worker who, outrageously, is £266 a year worse off thanks to the PBR measures which will come into force next month. Kelvin MacKenzie explains the lunacy – and the typographical error – behind this strange jihad on plastic bags. Tom Newton Dunn starts his defence analysis by saying “Don’t be conned – an extra £2bn for defence…is a drop in the ocean.” Its leader states that “the challenge for Labour is to prove that ‘reform’ is not an empty word.” All told, a superb summary that doesn’t waste a minute of your time.
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Tiberius
March 13th, 2008 5:08pm Report this commentI would challenge the Sun's leader with the Ballsesque reposte, "Or What? Of course "reform" is an empty word while Gordon Brown has a preponderance of influence on policy. Anyone who studies the last 11 year of government can reach no other conclusion. It seems Mr Murdoch is not yet convinced of (or is indifferent to) the fact that Brown has performed an economic and social lobotomy on the country, the real extent of which won't become apparent for some years yet.
David Lindsay
March 13th, 2008 5:17pm Report this commentWhy should we have to pay the price, in every sense, for the failure to control underage and binge drinking, neither of which can happen in a properly run pub? Real ale is making a comeback, pub food has improved no end, the breweries no longer seem to be forcing pubs to serve food even if the punters don't want it, the replacement of historic names and signs with facetious or obscene rubbish seems to be in very well-deserved decline, and all manner of other good things. But then along comes the Political Class to ruin it all in response to the problem that it has created, of teenagers drinking themselves delirious in the street. What does that have to do with pubs? Save Our Pubs!
Jess
March 14th, 2008 7:14am Report this commentWhat are the PBR measures, referred to in the piece above?
John Lancaster
March 14th, 2008 8:21am Report this commentSurely, the way to tackle binge drinking is to use existing legislation and impose large fines on those guilty of being drunk and disorderly. To avoid wasting cout time these fines could be imposed "on the spot" and will hurt those who commit these offences. There is no need to tax the enjoyment of the rest of us. This deceitful government is using this simply as a way to raise even more taxes and reducing the standards of living of those who do not deserve this punishment.
Perry
March 14th, 2008 8:28am Report this commentWhat else can it be but another sign of the impending Great Socialist Utopia? Likewise, how eloquent that the authoritarian Party Of The Poor Man should manipulate and control his drinking and smoking, and, in rural areas, his driving also.
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