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Rishi Sunak says Brexit is working because people can get cheaper beer

"This summer you will be able to get cheaper beer in pubs. These are all very tangible benefits of Brexit."

Georgina Pellant - 18th May 2023

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that Brexit is working because people can get cheaper beer and sanitary products.

Speaking to journalists en route to the G7 summit in Japan yesterday, the Prime Minister insisted that Brexit had proven a success by pointing to measures like beer duty reforms, cutting VAT on sanitary products and freeports.

Despite a record closure of pubs and other hospitality businesses in the past few years, he insisted the reform of beer duty was one of the government’s major Brexit successes – and even promised that beer would be cheaper this summer.

Rejecting claims from the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage that Brexit had failed under the Tories, he said: “We cut VAT on sanitary products. This summer you will be able to get cheaper beer in pubs.

“These are all very tangible benefits of Brexit that I’ve already delivered.”

The comments from the Prime Minister come despite a recent survey by The Independent showing that the number of hospitality venue closures soars six-fold in a year, and were triggered by EU staff shortages.

According to the paper’s findings, ‘Brexit is killing the hospitality industry’ with the net closures of 4,600 pubs, clubs, hotels and restaurants in the year to 31 March 2023 amounting to an average of 12.6 closures in a day.

These figures compare to just 678 closures in the year to March 2022, laying bare the devastating impact of staff shortages caused by Brexit.

In spite of this, yesterday the Prime Minister told journalists: “Economic optimism is increasing, consumer confidence is increasing, growth estimates are being raised,” adding that official figures for household disposable income growth were now “hugely” better than predicted.

This follows comments from the Bank of England chief Huw Pill last month that people should accept being poorer and stop asking for pay rises.

Read more: Bank of England tells people to ‘accept’ being poor and stop asking for raises

The Prime Minister continued: “I introduced freeports – a Brexit benefit around the country attracting jobs and investment to lots of different places.”

“We cut VAT on sanitary products, we reformed the alcohol duties that mean this summer you will be able to get cheaper beer in pubs. These are all very tangible benefits of Brexit that I’ve already delivered.”

He also said that two surveys of business leaders were showing “enormous confidence” in the UK.

“That’s what’s actually happening with the economy, that’s what global CEOs who actually have the money and are making investment decisions are saying,” he said.

Featured image – Number 10 Downing Street (via Flickr)