There is currently an Early Day Motion (EDM) before Parliament (No. 759) asking for HM Treasury to freeze the business rates multiplier, extend Small Business Rates Relief and apply Retail Relief, which together, could provide pubs with a rateable value of £50,000 with a discount. It goes on to say ‘(we) call on the Government to look at further ways directly to support British pubs through the tax system considering their importance to local communities as well as the local and national economy’. At the time of writing, none of the Gloucestershire MP’s had signed it.

Meanwhile, another EDM (No. 919), welcomes the impact that the three successive beer duty cuts have had on the UK pub industry and calls for another penny reduction in beer tax duty in the next budget, in order to sustain the momentum. At the time of writing, only the Tewkesbury MP, Laurence Robertson, one of the EDM sponsors, has signed it.

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