It was an honour to receive a special award, in recognition of my support for the Long Live the Local campaign and helping to secure consecutive freezes in beer duty. I was presented with the ‘Beer Champion’ award, a unique tap-handle trophy created especially for the occasion.
The special award is an initiative from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) to recognise the role MPs from across the House, in supporting Britain’s national drink since the 2017 General Election. The award especially recognises support for successive freezes in beer duty which secured thousands of jobs and millions of pounds worth of investment in the brewing and pubs sector.
Brewing and pubs are vital to the local economy in every part of the country. The Long Live the Local campaign is campaigning for a cut in beer duty in this year’s Budget and so far over 90,000 people have supported the petition this year, including 178 in my East Worthing and Shoreham constituency alone.
