Hurray! Rishi Sunak’s ‘Brexit benefits’ are cheap beer and scrapping the tampon tax
Rishi Sunak has gone to the G7 summit in Hiroshima, where the security of countries around the Pacific is near, if not at, the top of the agenda. For UK journalists speaking to the departing PM, however, the ever-present search for Brexit benefits was a hot topic.
🚨 | NEW: Rishi Sunak has said Brexit is working because people can get cheaper beer and sanitary products
“We cut VAT on sanitary products. This summer you will be able to get cheaper beer in pubs.
“These are all very tangible benefits of Brexit that I’ve already delivered.”
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) May 17, 2023
The 5% tax on sanitary products was, indeed, scrapped in 2021, but a report in late 2022 showed that retailers had largely not passed on the saving, and as for the beer …
"Rishi Sunak cites cheap beer and sanitary products as benefits of Brexit"https://t.co/idRaRliaF1
Reality: we have the third highest beer tax in Europe, over 10x the minimum EU law allows.https://t.co/W8PEb9TAUG
Related aside: 7 years on, is that REALLY the best he can do?! pic.twitter.com/TsGdOPgRBD
— Edwin Hayward (@edwinhayward) May 17, 2023
Blue passports, though. Got to love those blue passports.
His list was treated with exactly the amount of respect it deserved.
1.
Over 150 pubs in England & Wales closed permanently in the first three months of this year…https://t.co/mKNxQbpuWR
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) May 17, 2023
2.
Ah yes, because every time I've had a beer recently, I've thought: "Wow! That's cheap." pic.twitter.com/Gw7JVyF29V
— David Whitley (@mrdavidwhitley) May 17, 2023
3.
There’s something deeply pathetic and contemptuous about Sunak telling us that cheaper beer and tampons are Brexit benefits. Oh and dodgy tax-avoiding corruption hubs (aka freeports).
How appalling that this is all he has to show for the absolute tsunami of cost, hassle and loss.— sarah murphy (@13sarahmurphy) May 17, 2023
4.
Has he been to a shop to buy his wife's products, or bought a pint in the last 12mths (or, ever?!)
Out of touch, or out of his mind? https://t.co/SXhFS1CWa0— Cecelia ®️😂💕Migrants Welcome 💞 🇪🇺 (@cernusson) May 17, 2023
5.
You can only dip a tampon in a £5 pint of beer so many times before the Brexit fun of it wears off. https://t.co/rWJOe1GITg
— Gemma Hallam (@badhedgehog) May 17, 2023
6.
Nice one Rishi. Poor people will live on beer and tampons. 🤦♂️
— Ste ✨ (@xstex) May 17, 2023
7.
Where’s this cheap beer dividend? I paid seven quid for a pint last time I was in London. https://t.co/4QEkT96toJ
— Sharon O'Dea (@sharonodea) May 17, 2023
8.
He’s male & teetotal… https://t.co/mKNxQbpuWR
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) May 17, 2023
9.
Rishi Sunak cites cheap beer and sanitary products as benefits of Brexit. That wasn't on the side of the bus. He's just making it up now, isn't he #bbcpm https://t.co/5TrYcRJRSy
— Poptunes (@Catofbengals) May 17, 2023
10.
Tell me you’re out of touch without telling me you’re out of touch
Even Wetherspoons run by Mr Brexit himself, *increased* the price of pints by 7.5 percent in February, which adds ~ 29p to a pint
It might be relatively cheap compared but in no way has Brexit made pints cheaper pic.twitter.com/a0k9Z29iQ3
— David (@Zero_4) May 17, 2023
11.
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." https://t.co/YwZkPvjsFP
— Ahmer Wadee (@ahmerwadee) May 17, 2023
12.
Soooo the post-Brexit world is a mess but Rishi says we should be happy because he's blessed us with cheaper tampons. Is this some kind of weird menstrual iteration of 'let them eat cake'??https://t.co/kMkaCUbOof
— Leah Hazard (@hazard_leah) May 17, 2023
Dan Neidle had something to add on the tampon claim.
The tampon claim isn’t true. Cameron negotiated the VAT exemption on sanitary products in March 2016 – before Brexit. https://t.co/p9ojD0R5WH
— Dan Neidle (@DanNeidle) May 17, 2023
In any case, it’s a freedom extended to the whole of the EU.
22 Aug 2022 – EU member states can now choose to entirely exempt value-added tax (VAT) on female sanitary products, as they are considered basic needs.
EU member states can set taxation levels on beer.
— John (@john76867892) May 17, 2023
He’ll have to read through Jacob Rees-Mogg‘s list of Brexit benefits before he answers that question again. Oh!
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Source PoliticsUK Image Screengrab, Natracare on Unsplash
