Tag: booze
Drinkers face double-digit tax rise next week with Jeremy Hunt set to put booze up in line with inflation
DRINKERS face a double-digit tax hike next week as the Chancellor puts it up in line with inflation.
Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce excise duties will go up later this year after a six month freeze, The Sun understands.
Women cheering with pints of beer[/caption]
Spirits like gin and Scotch whisky are already taxed at an eye watering 70 per cent, but face a raise based on RPI inflation after August – currently at 13.4 per cent.
Distillers and brewers have been begging the Chancellor to extend the freeze as they face huge cash pressures.
Last night they warned a double-digit hike would only fuel inflation even further.
Mark Kent, Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, added: “Scotch Whisky is already the most highly taxed alcoholic drink in the UK. This is not how the French treat their world-famous wine industry.
“A double-digit tax rise, which distillers face without action from the Chancellor, will put further pressure on the industry already weighed down by increased regulation like the Deposit Return Scheme, high inflation and rising costs.”
Last night both the PM and Chancellor dampened hopes among Tory MPs that they will see tax cuts next week – and that inflation is the number one priority right now.
Speaking to reporters last night, the PM said it was still his “ambition” to slash taxes, but Covid and the Ukraine war had had a “major, damaging impact on our public finances”.
He added: “Over time I’ve been very clear, my ambition is to cut taxes… [but] the economic priorities are to halve inflation, reduce debt and grow the economy.
“I’m confident the Chancellor’s Budget will deliver on all of those – that is the focus.”
As the Chancellor was busy putting the finishing touches on his first big budget, he said he did want to “keep taxes down” – but stressed he needed to put the country on the path to “sustainable, long-term, healthy growth” first.
He told GB News putting up corporation was “not what I want at all” but insisted he had to reverse the tragic mini-budget from Liz Truss and stabilize the nation’s finances.
He added: “If we’re going to cut taxes permanently, then it needs to be a tax cut that we earn, through higher growth and the first step is stability.
“We do want to bring down our effective corporation tax rates – I want them to be the most competitive. We can’t get there all in one go – stability matters.”
Meanwhile, the Treasury announced a huge £20billion over the next 20 years will be spent on new carbon capture technology in a bid to suck dirty emissions out of the air -promising “spades in the ground” in months.
And a new competition bid to build dozens of small nuclear reactors to boost our energy supply and slash bills will be launched later this year.
Mr Hunt said last night: “We don’t want to see high bills like this again, it’s time for a clean energy reset.”
Distillers and brewers have been begging the Chancellor to extend the freeze as they face huge cash pressures[/caption]
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Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge ‘drunk 75 years worth of alcohol by the time he was 39’ as he reveals booze battle
Tom Kerridge has said his drinking habit was so bad he’d drunk 75 years worth of alcohol by the time he was 39.
The Michelin-starred chef revealed such was his concern at drinking the lifetime supply, he took decisive action approaching his 40th birthday – fearing he wouldn’t reach his 50th.
Tom Kerridge was so bad he’d drunk 75 years worth of alcohol by the time he was 39[/caption]
Kerridge, who has now been sober for nine years, said he had to cut out booze entirely because he could ‘never’ limit himself to just one glass of wine or one beer.
On the subject of drinking, the 49 year old – who has told in the past of drinking 15 pints at a time – told the Stompcast podcast: “It was massively a part of my life, and still is – I own pubs, I sell it and I’m passionate about people who make it.
“Except it’s not something that I know I can be a part of.
“The way I view it is that if you live to 75 years old, you’ve got that amount of booze that you can drink until you’re 75 – I did it all by the age of 40.
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“Approaching my 40th birthday I thought ‘I’ve got to make a change here, because if I don’t I won’t make 50’.
“I know there’s no such thing as a glass of wine or a beer – there never was, it was always about this release of chaos and mayhem.
Kerridge admitted he would like to be able to have a beer while watching football, but knows he can’t.
On whether he regretted his sobriety, the father of one added: “I do a bit, because sometimes I feel that I’ve let myself down that I can’t enjoy a glass of wine on holiday, or a gin and tonic watching the sunset, or a beer with the boys at football.
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“I just can’t do it because everything I do is quite excessive.”
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Fifth of adults could save £3,000 by giving up booze — enough to cover rising energy bills
A FIFTH of adults down two pints a day in the pub but giving up could save almost £3,000, a study found — enough to cover rising energy bills.
And those who indulge in ten small glasses of a wine a week could save £2,168 a year by quitting.
A fifth of adults down two pints a day in the pub but giving up could save almost £3,000, a study found — enough to cover rising energy bills[/caption]
The average British household with two adults spends £11.30 per week on alcohol, according to research for MoneyTransfers.com.
This equates to £587.60 a year on booze and is more than is spent on fresh fruit and vegetables.
The average cost of a pub pint in the UK is £4.12.
A small glass of wine is about £4.17.
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But one in five adults does not drink at all, the firm said.
CEO Jonathan Merry said: “What’s clear is that for the population that drinks on a frequent basis, life-changing sums of money could be saved from a lifestyle shift.”
Regionally, Brits in the north west spend more per week on alcohol at home than any other region, at an average of £10.90 a week.
But Londoners spend the least with an at-home alcohol budget of £8.10.
This, however, could be because they are more likely to visit pubs.
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EasyJet launches mega 28-day all-inclusive holiday for just £650pp – and it includes your flights and booze
EASYJET has launched a whopping 28-day holiday package – and it costs just £650pp.
The package has been launched as an ‘Escape the UK’ holiday that is cheaper than the average UK household’s monthly winter energy bills.
EasyJet has launched a huge 28-day all-inclusive package holiday deal[/caption]
The break includes 28 days at the 5* Stella Gardens Resort in Egypt[/caption]
The month-long stay is at the 5* Stella Gardens Resort in Egypt, with free spa and gym access.
It’s all-inclusive, so your breakfast, lunch and dinner along with any poolside snacks and booze are included.
There is even complimentary WiFi as well so you can still work out there, and free TV streaming.
With return flights from the UK and airport transfers included, the deal works out to a bargain of just £23pp a day.
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And you’ll even get better weather than the UK – Egypt’s Makadi Bay sits at around 20C in December.
Matt Callaghan, easyJet holidays’ Customer & Operations Director added: “With a growing number of Brits now searching online to see if they can escape abroad this winter, we knew we needed to try to provide consumers with a solution.
“We looked at everything an easyJet holidays package deal has to offer, and have been able to confirm that yes, comparably, our new 28-day winter escape is cheaper than staying at home this year.”
The deal goes on sale from 10am via the easyJet website here.
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Lynn Beattie, an ACMA management accountant, conducted research using data from ONS which found the holiday is £227 cheaper than staying in the UK.
She added: “While escaping abroad does not make all our financial commitments disappear, it’s startling to know that like for like, it’s cheaper to buy an all-inclusive holiday than stay in the UK this winter.”
It comes as the National Grid warned that there might not be enough power for the country if the energy crisis continues.
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Power cuts could become a regular occurrence during the coldest nights of January and February if electricity generators run out of gas.
And energy bills are now predicted to hit as high as £5,000 in April.
The weather in Egypt is also much warmer than the UK, around 20C in winter[/caption]