Are Cabinet Members And Senior Civil Servants Out Of Touch?

[factor-fiction]

I'm not aiming this in particular at George Osborne but one measure in his budget to me was a good example of where a measure that was intended to be popular backfires because it invites the politician to be a figure of fun. Most chancellors make this mistake at some stage.

I'm thinking of the 1p a pint reduction in beer tax announced yesterday. I could hear and see people yesterday shaking their heads and saying 'one penny?' I know he was trying to reverse the trend of ever increasing duty on beer in order to start to protect pubs and marginally help reduce the RPI, but surely he would have been better simply announcing that he was freezing the duty.

[factor-fiction]

I agree, youngmafbog- that's what i meant by out of touch. What they might think is a clever political wheeze is seen by the general public as pointless tinkering and perhaps an insult as it says - "I know it's been tough but have a few pence back"

[Gromit]

Most of the pubs and brewers put their prices up automatically BEFORE the budget. Usually by more than what the Chancellor levies. Punters notice the increase and blame the budget. We have already had this years increase. I doubt that they will now reduce their prices, blaming the increase in transportation costs.

1p was a stupid amount. It isn't going to save pubs. It isn't going to encourage new micro-brewery jobs.

And he put 15p on a bottle of wine with the other hand.

You cannot blame civil servants, as they just carry out Government policy.

[Gromit]

The reduction in beer peices is a terrible con. It grabbed the headlines but in reality it is unlikely to be passed on to the customer. The brewers and the publicans will keep it.

[andy-hughes]

I think the closure of pubs is less to do with the cost of alcohol, more to do with the huge change in drinkers and their approach to drinking.

In previous generations, the pub was the central social hub of a village or town. You could go in and be pretty sure to see someone you know for a chat. At weekends, couples and families would go and meet other couples and families for a few drinks and some company.

Modern young drinkers - who are the majority - drink in order to be drunk, not for the socail aspect of gathering together to enjoy a drink. Therefore, 'vertical' bars have replaced pubs - major breweries who own pubs discovered that people drink more if they stand and drink rather than sit and chat, so a lot of pubs stripped out their seating - ending the social aspect of drining.

Add to that the supermarkets' massive cuts in alcohol for consumption at home, and you have a soceity that has enough drinks at home to 'get started', and the continuing in a vertical bar to become utterly incapable.

yes this is a generalisation - but look around any town at the ratio of vertival bars to old-fashioned pubs and you can see my point is proven.

Taking a penny off a pint will make no difference to anyone except the headline writers who wil spin it which ever way they choose, and the Tories who are so deluded that they think this sop to the 'ordinary people' willl get them some votes at the next election.

[Haggisdj]

I drink Guinness at £3.20 a pint, I cannot see it dropping to £3.19 and the pubs handing back a penny in change...

[pdq1]

I quite expected him to knock 0.99p of a litre of petrol.

[ichkeria]

It has the big advantage that it gets everyone talking about the price of beer. Either out of touch or clever - or possibly both.

[DangerUXD]

maybe but I just yearn for a budget one day where they do something completely unexpectedly radical, like abolishing income tax for example! hang on that gives me an idea!