Wine growers hope to avoid a Reeves tax hangover

INDUSTRY IN PLEA FOR BUDGET HELP

- By Steph Spyro Deputy Political Editor

BRITAIN'S burgeoning wine industry will die on the vine unless Rachel Reeves stops taxing it "out of existence", sector chiefs are warning.

Businesses and investors have been ploughing funds into English growers as the summers become warmer and harvests longer.

But they have been stung by the Chancellor's tax grabs and some are sitting on investment cash for fear of what she will do next. Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association, said: "British winemaking could lead the world, if only government stopped taxing it out of existence. At over £2.50 per bottle, we have one of Europe's steepest wine duties. France only charges €0.03, which makes a big difference. Our crippling taxes mean that for a £10 bottle of wine, British producers often pay more in duty than they take home in profit.