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New cabinet members historically voted in favour of alcohol duty hikes

Published:  15 July, 2016

While trying to establish beneficial trading terms with the EU should Article 50 be enacted will be a top priority for the new government, how the new cabinet members voted on alcohol duty may be a bit worrying for the drinks trade.

According to the website The Public Whip, which tracks and publishes, how politicians vote in Parliament and scores them with how they feel on specific topics, some of the newly appointed and more powerful cabinet members often voted for higher alcohol duties.  Equally the website They Work For You, which tries to make how MPs have historically voted on certain issues clearer to the public, also found that generally the new members to the UK's leadership team don't seem to be advocating for the cut in alcohol duty.

Theresa May PM:

Public Whip: Voted strongly for the policy on higher taxes on alcoholic drinks, scored an 80.3%

They Work For You: Theresa May generally voted for higher taxes on alcoholic drinks

Theresa May, the new prime minster, when she was present to vote was a mixed bag when it came to voting on alcohol duty. In 2010, she voted against increasing taxes on alcoholic drinks, but voted for an increase in 2011. In 2012, she voted to approve the 2012 Budget which called for a 2% rise in duty. She was absent for both the 2013 and 2014 budgetary votes and in 2015 she did vote to approve the budget which kept the beer and wine duty unchanged, but the duty on spirits and cider was cut by 2%.

Philip Hammond, Chancellor:

Public Whip: Voted strongly for the policy on higher taxes on alcoholic drinks, scored an 86.2%

They Work For You: Philip Hammond almost always voted for higher taxes on alcoholic drink

Philip Hammond, who was named Chancellor early this week, although he did vote in 2010 against increasing alcohol taxes, in 2011 he voted to increase them. In 2012 he approved the Budget 2012 which called for a 2% in alcohol duty. He approved the 2013 Budget which saw beer get a minor cut in duty, but wine and spirits both saw a 2% rise in tax in accordance with the duty escalator. In both 2014 and 2015 he was absent and did not vote on the annual budget.

Andrea Leadsom, Environment and Rural Affairs Secretary:

Public Whip: Voted strongly for the policy on higher taxes on alcoholic drinks, scored an 91.3%

They Work For You: Andrea Leadsom almost always voted for higher taxes on alcoholic drinks

Andre Leadsom has been appointed as the Environment and Rural Affairs Secretary and as "voted strongly for the policy on higher taxes on alcohol drinks," according to Public Whip website. In 2011 she voted in favour of increasing taxation on alcohol. She also voted in 2012 and 2013 which saw a rise wine and spirits taxation rise both years by 2% in accordance with duty escalator. In 2014, Leadsom did however voted to approve the 2014 Budget which saw the duty escalator scrapped, but still saw wine rise at the rate of inflation. She also approved the 2015 Budget which saw the wine and spirits duty remain flat and beer get another duty cut.

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