Valerie Supports Long Live the Local Campaign

I showed my support on Tuesday  19 October 2021 for the Long Live the Local Campaign.  Launched in 2018, the campaign  raised awareness on July 6th 2021 to celebrate the important social, cultural and economic role pubs and breweries play in Britain, and to remind people that they cannot take them for granted. Britain’s pubs and breweries contribute £26.2bn GVA and supports 936,000 jobs. The Campaign among other issues calls on the Government to invest in pubs and breweries through the reform of the unfair tax burden – specifically lower VAT & Business Rates for pubs and lower Beer Duty.

I attended the drop in to hear more about the campaign and  pledged support for the Long Live the Local Campaign to help pubs and breweries in Walsall South to recover and thrive. Pubs are at the heart of communities across Walsall South, but with pubs bearing a disproportionate burden as a result of the pandemic the Government should consider cutting unfair taxes on pubs that are hampering their recovery.  I am supporting the Long Live the Local campaign and calling on the Chancellor to lower VAT & Business rates for pubs and reduce Beer Duty overall at this year’s Budget to support the recovery of pubs.

In Walsall South there are 62 pubs with 1271 jobs reliant on the beer and pub sector. This contributes £36million to GDP and £14.3billion in wages. It is vital that this sector survives and thrives once we come out of the pandemic.