There was a time when Britain’s brewers were a mighty political force. Known as the Beerage, they sought seats in the Commons and the Lords in the 19th century to keep duty on beer low and to oppose the powerful evangelical temperance movement supported by Liberals.
Today the British Beer and Pub Association remains a powerful lobby and MPs know the worth of keeping pubs open and duty on a pint as low as possible.
Beer is also high politics in the EU. The European Court of Justice made a major intervention in the world of beer with a landmark ruling in 1987, outlawing as protectionist Germany’s 500 year old Reinheitsgebot (Purity Ordinance) which stipulated that beer could only be brewed with water, hops and barley. The ECJ upheld the right of brewers in Britain or France who made beer with different ingredients to sell into the German market.
How should you vote?
Now the British Beer and Pub Association has put forward its Brexit manifesto. Its key demands include:
- A free trade deal with the EU;
- No tariffs or paperwork for beer exports;
- No changes to the rights of existing overseas workers in the industry;
- A future immigration system that supports the necessary level of staffing for the sector, which already faces a shortage of pub chefs;
- Effective and proportionate regulation of existing EU laws;
- Promoting British beer through support for exports and tourism;
- No changes to overseas visitor visa requirements for two years.
The last point is not strictly Brexit related but British pubs sensibly don’t want Britain to begin getting the reputation as a country that is unfriendly to visitors, tourists and immigrants.
Overall, British brewers and pubs are saying they want to keep all the privileges of EU membership – free trade, free movement of workers, no tariffs or customs declaration forms.
You don’t have to be on the eighth pint to work out that the best option for the brewers and pubs would be for Britain to stay in the EU, and the second best choice to stay in the Single Market and the Customs Union and retain free movement.
The BBPA is the collective voice of the beer sector. Its members account for about 90 percent of British brewing. Yet the beer champion who hogs media headlines is Tim Martin, the loud-mouthed Brexit-supporter who owns Weatherspoons. He has attacked the CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn for giving “foolhardy advice” on Brexit.
“[She] has recently said that ‘leaving the negotiating table without a deal shouldn’t be Plan B, but Plan Z’. It is doubtful if Ms Fairbairn has ever been involved in serious business negotiations.”
Having undermined the CBI’s effort to warn the Government away from confrontational tactics, Martin went on to praise the idea of a hard Brexit. “As many people have said it is essential to adopt an approach that stresses the UK’s willingness to trade on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms,” he said.
The WTO website has 827 entries on beer tariffs. Duty on beer has been a favourite government revenue raiser throughout the ages.
Thanks to the EU and ECJ, German attempts to thwart British beer exports were binned. There is no evidence that the WTO helps brewers and pubs. Rather the opposite as duties, customs clearance, and a lack of workers mean Martin’s and all UK pubs will face a much harder time outside the EU than they do today.
It’s enough to drive you to drink.