The average cost of a pint of real ale passes £3
The late Margaret Thatcher had two connections with milk. First the “Milk Snatcher” was credited with being responsible for stopping free milk for school children in 1971 and then in a letter to her agriculture minister, Peter Walker, in 1979, she stated:
“I do not believe such a large increase is possible politically. 1.5p is a great addition to the housewife’s budget. 1p is all she will bear”.
with members of the cast of the TV soap “Coronation Street”
Of late, it has been another Conservative battleaxe, Nadine Dorries MP, who has waded into the milk. Referring to David Cameron and George Osborne, Dorries described them as:
“Two arrogant posh boys who don’t know the price of milk – who show no remorse, no contrition and no passion to want to understand the lives of others”.
Today, the publication of research by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) revealed that the cost of a more grown up kind of pint has passed £3 for the first time. CAMRA’s figures record that a pint of beer in February 2013 had risen 12p or 3.9% on the price a year earlier to £3.03. Equally, a pint of lager has risen some 4.1% to an average of £3.21 a pint and cider has gone up 4% to £3.24 a pint.
The organisation bizarrely described this as a “milestone moment” and indeed it may be for the breweries and the government. The public, on the other hand, will not be sharing in this celebration and in fact, many of them will be wishing Margaret Thatcher were around to tell CAMRA: “This is a price drinkers would rather not bear”.