01/07/2026
✖️ Last year, 1,010 pubs closed. Not because people stopped going – pubs are packed on match days, sunny afternoons and Friday evenings – but because the costs make them almost impossible to run.
📉 In the UK, every pint carries 20% VAT. In France, Spain and Italy it's 10%. In Germany it's 7%. We're paying one of the highest rates in Europe – and our pubs are closing because of it.
🍺 is the campaign calling for 10% VAT for hospitality. Led by chef and publican Tom Kerridge. Already over 200,000 signatures. The target is one million. Sign here: https://orlo.uk/CNBBL
🏗️ Some of these closures aren't just shutters. 286 pub buildings were lost last year. The Government is trying to weaken the planning laws for the last pubs in an area, in England. Our e-lobby takes two minutes: https://orlo.uk/o80of
‼️ But communities are fighting back. In Hull, the New Clarence was bought by a developer and flats were planned. The community fought two planning applications and two appeals. In September 2025 it reopened – Hull's first community-owned pub. It's still open. It's still serving pints.
🍻 Three things. Sign the petition. Use the e-lobby. And go to the pub this summer – your visit this summer keeps the doors open.
Sources: CAMRA internal data 2025–26. VAT rates: https://orlo.uk/6EIDf; UKHospitality 2026. Community pub data: CAMRA Community Pub Ownership Update, What's Brewing, May 2026.
