Row over Tory 'beer and bingo' Budget advert

[cronus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26658742

Row over Tory 'beer and bingo' Budget advert

A Conservative advert highlighting changes to beer and bingo taxes in the Budget has been criticised by Labour and the Lib Dems as "patronising".

The online advert said the 1p cut in beer duty and the halving of bingo duty to 10% would help "hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy".

A picture of the advert was tweeted by Tory chairman Grant Shapps.

The chancellor said it was "very good" that people were hearing about measures to help the bingo and pub industries.

But Lib Dem Treasury minister Danny Alexander said it was "rather patronising".

He told the BBC's Newsnight programme it "demeans some sensible things in the Budget" and said when he first saw the advert, he thought it was a "spoof".

'Fob off'
"It may be our Budget but it is their (the Conservatives') words," Mr Alexander added.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls told the BBC News Channel it was a "clumsy and ham-fisted" campaign.

"They cut tax on Bingo, which is a good thing," he said. "They took a penny off a pint of beer - you've got to drink one hundred pints of beer to save a pound.

(continued, better get started then...)

[JimC]

Bread and circuses, 21st century style...

[cronus]

Bread and circuses, 21st century style...

....in the 21st century the plebs are aware, and they'll want more than bingo'n'beer on the day it goes sour.

[rainbow]

- you've got to drink one hundred pints of beer to save a pound.

...and if you've ever tasted the dishwater they call "beer" in the UK, you'll agree that this is totally unreasonable.

[JimC]

- you've got to drink one hundred pints of beer to save a pound.

...and if you've ever tasted the dishwater they call "beer" in the UK, you'll agree that this is totally unreasonable.

I don't think you could say that about "Old Peculiar"

[rainbow]

- you've got to drink one hundred pints of beer to save a pound.

...and if you've ever tasted the dishwater they call "beer" in the UK, you'll agree that this is totally unreasonable.

I don't think you could say that about "Old Peculiar"

There are, no doubt, a few exceptions.

[Calilasseia]

Compared to the stuff served in quite a few American bars, even average grade UK beer is rocket fuel, let alone a premium brew like Old Peculier, which, incidentally, is the world's only purple pint.

There's bottles of one brew in my local Asda, think it's Black Tom or something similar, which is 12.5% alcohol by volume. If you think 12.5% alcohol is "dishwater", then you're not from this planet.

[pErvinalia]

UK beer shits all over any horse piss you get in Africa. South African beer is equivalent to the commercial stuff here in Oz (although, slightly better); i.e. horse piss.

[rainbow]

Sign in British pub:

"Do not criticise the beer. You may be old and weak yourself one day"

[pErvinalia]

You clearly haven't drunk any actual quality UK beer.

[Calilasseia]

One of the beautiful ironies being that back in the 1970s, when much commercially brewed beer in the UK was indistinguishable from horse piss, this sparked the rise of CAMRA. Whose influence resulted in the rise to prominence of small breweries that were, pre-CAMRA, in danger of being driven to extinction by the corporate piss makers. Outfits such as Theakstons and Wychwood (in the case of the latter, I have to admire an outfit that names two of its brews "Dog's Bollocks" and "Dirty Tackle" ), which were producing on a local level, but gained national appreciation once CAMRA started getting to work. Indeed, the craft brewery industry is now so healthy here in the UK, that I can walk into a supermarket and pick up examples of something like 150 bottled craft brews. That's before I consider the possibilities of heading off to a specialist establishment dealing in craft brews. I suspect Dev will have a few words on this subject from his Belfast days to add here.

[pErvinalia]

Craft brewing is booming here now (after steady progress for the last decade+), but it's being commercialised to the point of ridiculousness. So many new beers coming out from brewers with no established name, but charging ridiculous prices. Also weird packaging to portray unique quality (that almost certainly doesn't exist in the actual product). Fine, I can ignore some of these and just laugh as I pass them in the shop, but the problem is it drives up the prices of the quality stuff. If people are going to pay top price for shit, then why wouldn't the quality guys put their prices up. It's so typical of the last couple of generations (started with my lot, gen X, i think), where cool is manufactured, not gained. So sick of all the advertising bollocks. What i love is that I can get quality german and other european beers here (including a lot of the UK ones) for cheaper than these new poncy advertising gimmick Australian craft beers. Crazy.

[rainbow]

You clearly haven't drunk any actual quality UK beer.

One cannot do that which is not possible.