'Axe the Beer Tax - Save the Pub' today launched a national campaign to 'TEXT the Chancellor' urging him not to raise Beer Tax in next month's Budget. The campaign was launched by a full page advert in today's Sun newspaper. To take part, simply TEXT the word 'LOBBY' to 81025, and a message will be sent directly to Alistair Darling.

The Chancellor increased Beer Tax by 18% in last year's Budget, and plans to raise it again next month. However, there are clear signs that his new proposals to put up Beer Tax are increasingly unpopular:

• A public opinion poll last month found that 70% of the British public believed that the Chancellor is not justified in raising Beer Tax in the forthcoming budget.
• 198 Members of Parliament from all political parties have now signed a Parliamentary Motion (EDM 10: 'Save the Great British Pub') which calls on the Chancellor to scrap the planned Beer Tax increase in the Budget.
• The Prime Minister, just a fortnight ago, said that he did not want the majority of moderate drinkers "to have to pay more" for the excesses of a minority.

Chief Executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, David Long said:

"We know from opinion polls how unpopular the Chancellor's proposals to increase Beer Tax are. We also know how unpopular they are in Parliament. Even the Prime Minister doesn't seem to like them.

"Now it's your chance to tell Mr Darling directly want you think about them. By texting the word 'LOBBY' to 81025, a message will be sent directly to the Chancellor urging him not to put up Beer Tax any more."

NOTES

1. Independent opinion pollsters, Com Res interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1004 adults by telephone, 20-22 February 2009. 70% of people said they believed the Chancellor was not justified in raising Beer Tax in the current economic climate.
2. 198 Members of Parliament have signed EDM 10, 'Save the Great British Pub' including 95 Labour backbenchers.
3. In Gordon Brown's Monthly Press Conference (16 March 2009), the Prime Minister said: "We don't want the responsible, sensible majority of moderate drinkers to have to pay more or suffer as a result of the excesses of a minority."