Measures in the Chancellor's budget - not just the cancellation of the 6p beer duty rise, but the further 1p cut, as well as the scrapping of the beer duty escalator- are a welcome step to help protect the livelihoods of our publicans. However, borough councils also need to step in with stricter planning policies that favour protecting pubs as community hubs.

George Osborne started his budget speech by saying it was "a Budget for people who aspire to work hard and get on". Given that we know single parents absolutely aspire to work hard and want to get on, what was there in the budget to help them?

The Chancellor brought some cheer to the nation's beer drinkers by scrapping a duty escalator blamed for closing pubs - and going further by cutting d...

Perhaps now would be a good time for Mr Cameron to wax lyrical about how good pubs are for communities; a great first step would be for him to remove the Alcohol Duty Escalator.

If you've got a pub in your village, have a loved one employed by the industry or simply can't stomach the thought of carrying on drinking if the average price of a pint exceeds four quid, you can add your voice to CAMRA's campaign and sign the e-petition.

Minimum alcohol pricing is the right step towards reversing the increasing trend of drinking at home, although some doctors claim that the base price is too low. On beer duty, however, it appears pubs will have to dig into their own pockets again for the next round. The Treasury is certainly not buying it.