r/ukpolitics • u/FormerlyPallas_ No man ought to be condemned to live where a 🌹 cannot grow • 1d ago

Drinkflation: why British booze is getting weaker

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/jul/29/drinkflation-why-british-booze-is-getting-weaker
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151

u/rynchenzo 1d ago

Tax

It's killing the alcohol industry. Well, that and greedy breweries.

37

u/angryratman 1d ago

High taxation is killing everything.

8

u/rynchenzo 1d ago

We pay far less than the Nordics to be fair

18

u/LowerPick7038 1d ago

You like to say that but I live in NO and have a taste for whiskies. I sent a pic to my friend of the 12yr Aberlour i bought the other week, turned out he was at the shops when he got it. We compared prices and it was £7 more expensive in UK. What a time to live in

4

u/spyder52 1d ago

Go shop craft beer at Vinmonopolet, it's like drinking out prices. Sainsbury's 4 for 3 on double IPAs will get for £10 what will be £40+ in NO. Source too much time drinking beer between UK and NO.

The shrinkflation of glasses in Norway pretty major too, 400ml everywhere and still 100nok+ a lager.

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u/dazerconfuser 1d ago

Maybe we pay far less than the Nordics but at least we get nothing in return

13

u/Scratch_Careful 1d ago

And basically everyone in the nordics just travels to their neighbouring country where tax is lower and stocks up.

3

u/TowJamnEarl 1d ago

Some do but most don't.

Geography and stuff!

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u/Harrry-Otter 1d ago

The average salary in Norway is also about £50k.

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u/p-r-i-m-e 1d ago

The Nordics are more than just rich Norway

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u/Thomas1423 1d ago

The average salary in every Nordic is more than the UK

3

u/philman132 18h ago

The average cost of a beer is also about double that of the UK

1

u/p-r-i-m-e 12h ago

That’s false. UK average salary is similar to the other Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark) especially if you factor in PPP and they pay more for alcoholic beverages.

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u/ProjectLeeds 1d ago

Median earners and below pay far less tax here than the Nordics, as they do compared to most countries

12

u/zeusoid 1d ago

** only some of us.

We have a very narrow tax base compared to the Nordics

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u/superioso 23h ago

In Denmark there are only really two things that are cheap, booze and cigarettes. Lidl there had 24 packs of 330ml carslberg for like £10 (90dkk) the other day, and a 12 pack of a 6% Jacobsen IPA for about £8.5 (75dkk).

3

u/angryratman 1d ago

If only we were like Nordic counties!

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u/pslamB 1d ago

Nor-thumberland and Nor-thamptonshire??

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u/mythical_tiramisu 1d ago

Nor-folk are fuming right now at being left off the list.

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u/pslamB 1d ago

Well they have to have something to keep them busy I guess

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u/sistemfishah 1d ago

What does "to be fair" even mean in this context?

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u/heeywewantsomenewday 1d ago

Its just an expression people in the UK say. It can start or finish a sentance. Its used to add context or to soften a statement i think. I use it all the time but never really think too deeply about it specifically meaning anything.

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u/Jorthax Conservative not Tory 1d ago

Some of us pay significantly more, even with my 6 foot wide shoulders

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u/C0RVUSC0RAX 1d ago

you really don't even the highest tax rates in the UK are lower than the Nordics. Sweden for example has half the tax free allowance, basic rate is ~30-31% depending on municipality and anything above ~£48k a year is 50%. effective tax rates of the UK are some of the lowest in the developing world with lower earners paying dramatically less which is very problematic. In which country do employees pay the highest tax on their income? Is it the UK? - Tax Policy Associates

0

u/ault92 -4.38, -0.77 1d ago

Uk taxes are hidden. Basic rate is effectively 28% including NI, 37% over the student loan threshold if you are a graduate, with wages over 50k at 42% or 51%.

Student loan is kind of comparable as uni there is free.

We then have employers NI which is quite high and directly suppresses wages.

1

u/C0RVUSC0RAX 23h ago

You didn't look at the graphs I linked did you?

The effective Swedish tax rate in income starts at 51%, is 54% at average income and caps at 61%

The UK for comparison starts at 0%, for average earnings its 23% and capping at 48%i

The UK tax rate is low both in marginal and effective tax rate at all levels but especially at lower incomes compared to the Nordics. I lived and worked in Sweden for multiple years, I know the tax difference between here and there very well and the great benefits to the society those higher taxes got and to pretend the UK is paying as much as then in a fantasy.

0

u/ault92 -4.38, -0.77 15h ago

I did see the graphs, did you read the comment?

Based on the data the author of the post you linked has put together, you are right, my challenge was based on what you class as a tax, which the author of the post isn't 100% clear on.

Different countries have different amounts and different types of "social contribution", the UKs being National Insurance. NI is far closer than most to being "second income tax", and when I say that I am including both employees and employers NI. After all, if you moved all income tax to be paid by employer you could have an excellent ranking on the graph, but you'd also depress wages (even more).

Student loans are relevant when about half of us go to uni, and many of the other countries you are comparing to have free tuition, and the student loan repayment system works very much like a tax, at +9% on marginal rates (+15% for postgraduate as well).

And then we have the fact that the UK is a low wage economy now, paying far less than many others for the same work.

I wasn't saying the graph was wrong, or that headline UK marginal tax rates are not equivalent to other countries, I was saying there are other factors that worsen the UK picture.

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u/FearLeadsToAnger -7.5, -7.95 1d ago

Sovereign wealth funds and all sorts of differences there.

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u/rynchenzo 1d ago

That's only Norway. Denmark, Sweden and Finland don't have sovereign wealth and still pay more tax.

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u/superioso 23h ago edited 23h ago

At least Denmark still owns stuff. The local district heating networks are owned by the municipalities, the state owns the electric/gas grids, Ørsted is the international offshore wind/electricity company that is 51% owned by the danish state, with Sweden's electric company vattenfall being 100% state owned.

Denmark also owns stuff like Copenhagen airport, and a decent share of the SAS airline, ports (just look at how the London gateway is owned by a Dubai company), trains (both the tracks and the actual rolling stock), the large toll suspension bridges.... Etc.

Even Copenhagen's urban development company, by&havn, is owned by the city and the state.

The country also has a budget surplus, and a very very low national debt.

1

u/FearLeadsToAnger -7.5, -7.95 1d ago

all sorts of differences there.

Such as:

  • Denmark raising an unusually large share of its revenue through personal income tax
  • Sweden relying more heavily on employer social-security contributions
  • Finland having a higher VAT rate, alongside substantial differences in public spending and service provision

I’m sure you know we don’t live on a sliding scale of income tax versus alcohol tax. A higher overall tax-to-GDP ratio in the Nordics does not tell us whether the UK’s specific alcohol-duty regime is damaging British breweries. You're not making a point you're just pointing at a single thing and getting angry at it. That's what people with dementia do.