4 pence on a pint to combat binge-drinking? Don't make me laugh, it shows no understanding of the pub trade. It's certainly a half-hearted way of tackling the problems of underage and binge-drinking that have been allowed to get out of control.
It was called "another nail in the coffin of the traditional British pub" by SIBA spokesman Michael Hardman. While CAMRA thought it was a "charter for smugglers and cheap supermarket booze". Response from the British Institute of Innkeeping was that members had complained it was the "worst Budget in living memory".
Peter Amor of SIBA accused Darling of "picking on an easy target" and said the future of the traditional pub was threatened coming on top of the steep increases on barley and hops along with rising fuel and energy prices. He quoted a Frenchman Hilaire Belloc who said "If you lose your pubs you lose your England".
Responsible drinkers who use pubs will take the brunt of it leading to a campaign to ban Alistair Darling from all of Britain's pubs in conjunction with the Morning Advertiser trade paper. The number of pubs that have barred the Chancellor is growing steadily and as we went to press Giles Thorley, the boss of Punch Taverns, said that he would be happy to ban Darling from all of its 8,449  pubs because of the anti-pub budget. It's now down to individual licensees. Posters and info can be downloaded from www.morningadvertiser.co.uk.
4p in Chancellor speak is the tax on a basic beer, rising with alcoholic strength plus VAT and if brewers, pubs and distributors don't add to their margins they'll go out of business. Hence it really equates to anything up to 20p a pint extra. The exception is in the supermarkets where alcohol is sold as a loss leader so the tax hike is unlikely to achieve anything positive.

The Woolpack, Chelmsford was runner up in the Greene King Abbot Ale Cask Pub of the Year Competition. Advertised in the Publican trade magazine, it was open to every pub in the country, irrespective of ownership or even whether they stocked Abbot Ale. After three rounds of unannounced cellar checks and mystery customer visits by Cask Marque the Woolpack finished second in the UK out of over 450 entries.
Vis-à-vis, you might get a better kept pint of beer in the UK but you'd have to go to the Barley Mow in Portsmouth for it, hardly worth the effort! You're  better off at the Woolpack. Congratulations to Mags & Dave!!

Greene King has announced its seasonal cask ales for the year, aimed at giving drinkers and their hosts a broader choice of ales all year round. A couple of completely new brews feature alongside some from breweries they have acquired along the way.  During April and May they've revived Morland's Tanners Jack, 4.4%, followed by Ale Fresco at 4.3% for May to June.
The Bury St Edmund's brewer is also backing CAMRA's Mild Month hoping to promote their XX Mild with posters and drip mats provided. Further information should be available online at www.camra.org.uk or maybe check out your local Greene King pub.