On July 21, barely three weeks after the U.K.’s hospitality industry and pubs came out of lockdown, the government announced it would be raising the amount of alcohol tax paid by small breweries. The backlash was immediate and furious, but it wasn’t only against the government.
Let that sink in for a moment: A group of businesses successfully campaigned for higher taxes within their own industry, specifically for up-and-coming competitors. To work out how it came to this, we need to take a step back.
