Henry Smith MP has received a special award in recognition of his support for the Long Live the Local campaign and helping to secure consecutive freezes in beer duty.

The Crawley MP was presented with the ‘Beer Champion’ award, a unique tap-handle trophy created especially for the occasion.

Henry said;

“The Budget last autumn continued the freeze on beer, cider and spirits tax for another year, and I call on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to go further.

“There are more than 1,400 jobs connected to the 39 pubs in Crawley, which contribute over £34 million to the local economy per year. It’s vital for the industry and customers that the sector has Government’s backing.”

Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, comments:

“This award recognises Henry Smith MP for his invaluable support for the Great British pub and Britain’s historic brewing industry. I want to thank Henry for the work done in securing two beer duty freezes in this parliament, and for his support for the brewing and pubs sector since the 2017 election.”

The special award is an initiative from the British Beer & Pub Association to recognise the role of Henry Smith MP and other MPs from across the House of Commons 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 133 in the Crawley constituency alone.