Cost of living crisis hits pubs - your views online

Edinburgh pubs forced to raise price of a pint and cut opening hours over soaring energy bills

Marcus Hamilton

Can’t afford to heat your home or go out for a pint? Just a moment of thought. Scotland’s energy sector is privatised and laws to control it as reserved matters by good old Tories. 1986 Margaret Thatcher privatised British Gas for profits. 1990 John major privatised electricity and transmission charges the energy run on. This is the Tory cycle. Sell off the family silver, privatise the profits and then when things go wrong nationalise the losses (tax payer bailout or full re-nationalisation), rinse and repeat. It's the circle of (Tory) life.

Daniel Watt

As if it’s only the pubs. The whole country is being price gouged by corporations, now using the war in Ukraine as an excuse for hiking up the prices. The supply issues caused at the start of the war have long been solved. This is to make up for missing revenue from the pandemic.

Georgina Mcilroy

It's already expensive for a pint in Edinburgh, most folks can't afford a full night out just now, never mind the price hikes. Unless something radical is done, this will see the demise of many small businesses. But that's OK, the Tories can still drink at subsidised prices in the Houses of Parliament.

Mark McDonald

The only pubs that will survive are Wetherspoons, the rest will all go down under.

Paul Walker

If these energy companies had any morals they would only increase the energy prices by the amount heir wholesale prices have increased, but most household bills are doubling and some businesses face ten times the previous bills. The government are in bed with these companies and their stupid gimmicks of packages for the least well off is just smoke and mirrors as it’ll practically be self funded by the extra tax revenue generated by the energy companies charging so much more The oil and gas produced in Scotland would only belong to Scotland as an independent country, under London rule we have no real say.

Raymond Mills

Edinburgh pubs and people should stand up and say enough is enough.

Janette McFarlane

So sad after the pandemic closures, the bin strikes and now this.

Pete Swift

So, to put in bluntly, two pints, an orange juice a burger and Mac n cheese cost two working men £50. We were there an hour. We moved to a bar a mile away, with the same menu and it would’ve been half that. City centre pubs are being ruined. Edinburgh is a fantastic place but us locals are being out-priced to the point where we don’t go out.

Colin Pow

Need a bank loan as it is to go up town. Paid £7 for a pint the other week. Needed a seat!

Tam Bruce

Simple people will drink at home. Why would they pay increased prices for a beer etc? We are all going to find spending hard with the energy price increases.

Tony Roper

Remember when Sturgeon decimated the hospitality industry for no reason while RUK was booming during Covid? These pubs would have been in a better position.

Chick Macdonald

Closing down everything that makes us happy. We are cloned to work till we drop and don't dare enjoy yourself or else.

Iain Caldwell

Honestly don’t remember the last time I was at a bar. They priced themselves out long before the energy crisis.

Shah Nawaz

Let's keep voting Tory. Woohooo!

John McDonald

Not just pubs. Just about everything on the high street is at risk. These gas and leccy prices will kill off a lot of small to medium-sized business and the ones that survive will be saddled with more debt.

Steve Bell

Simply cannot charge people £15 a pint and expect to survive. Many people, myself included, will ride out the storm and buy supermarket beer to stay afloat with our own energy bills. Shafting the customer is an early grave at those prices.

Chick Macdonald

That's tourism gone for good in Edinburgh and beyond. They were too expensive before this potential rise and were slowly getting rid of the ordinary punter.

Mandy Zerifex

Tell your customers all to bring a torch!

Derek Knox

It’s £6.55 a pint in Malt n Shovel. Can they increase prices anymore?

Peter Symington

Way too many pubs.

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