Over 2,000 small business owners slam the Chancellor for not scrapping Osborne’s soft drinks tax

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The honeymoon is well and truly over for Theresa May and her Chancellor Phillip Hammond. After a difficult week post conference, 2,000 newsagents and publicans heaped more pressure on the beleaguered duo by demanding they scrap the regressive soft drinks tax.

Despite increasing lip service being paid to building “an economy that works for everyone” research from The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) predicts the soft drinks tax will cost family run newsagents thousands of pounds a year in lost revenue.

In addition, independent researchers at Oxford Economics have warned the tax will cost the UK economy £132 million and put over 4,000 good jobs at risk.

The tax won’t just hit businesses and the people who work in them, the cost will be felt by everyone. Our new Prime Minister might have changed the Tory’s rhetoric around working people, but her Chancellor’s refusal to ditch the tax shows her party hasn’t changed. The tax will pile on pounds to Britain’s weekly shop whilst only cutting calorie consumption by five calories per person, per day, the equivalent of a bite of apple.    

Gavin Partington, Director General of the British Soft Drinks Association and part of the coalition said “The sheer number of letters to the Chancellor today illustrates the huge opposition to the soft drinks tax from Britain’s small businesses and the people who work in them.

“The Government is irresponsibly putting 4,000 proper jobs across the country at risk for a tax which research shows will only reduce calorie intake by five calories per person per day.”

Paul Baxter, CEO, The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) added to this commenting from the steps of the Treasury: ”The fact that so many newsagents are today warning of the risk the soft drinks tax poses should give the Chancellor pause for thought.

“Newsagents are at the heart of every community in the UK giving us a unique perspective on the real economy.

“Most newsagents are family run businesses meaning that losing thousands of pounds a year in revenue is going to hit them hard. The Chancellor needs to scrap the tax now.”

This is a sponsored post by the Face the Facts: Can the Tax coalition campaign. The coalition represents tens of thousands of small and large businesses impacted by the tax.