18:16 Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)

The climate crisis is also wreaking havoc on the industry. With the recent high temperatures and drought, hop harvests in Europe are expected to be down 20% to 40% on last year, which means higher prices yet again in the coming months. As if that picture was not worrying enough, there is yet another shortage of CO 2 , a key part of the brewing process, again partly due to energy prices.

There are glimmers of hope that I have seen when speaking to local businesses throughout the summer. Many are responding to energy prices and CO 2 shortages by installing green technology to help with renewable energy generation, storage, electrolysis and CO 2 recovery. The Government might not be engaging with long-term planning to adapt to this crisis, but local businesses in Midlothian certainly are. They are turning up the dial on the green revolution in the place that matters most: their own back yards.

Midlothian is blessed with many independent brewers, which are a huge asset to the local economy, the community and its culture, but the Treasury’s current proposals for SBR reform seem to put global producers first. They undermine the incentive to grow and do not go nearly far enough to support these valued businesses through the energy crisis, which is existential for many. The back and forth of four years of fiddling with SBR reform simply has to end. We need the Government to act today to give brewers clarity on what reform will look like, to address the concerns about SBR reform benefiting global companies and discouraging innovation, and to deliver urgent support for energy bills and switching to green energy production. That way, I hope that we can continue to raise a glass to our independent brewers for years to come, because they give so much to all our communities.

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