Dear Editor,

Much has been said recently about the decision by the EU Commission to order the British government to end its tax relief for small cider and perry producers in the West Midlands.

We are not talking about huge conglomerates but small orchards mainly using traditional methods who make very little money. This tax will destroy many of these small businesses. As your MEP I am campaigning for a rule change in Brussels so that small cider producers are treated the same as micro-breweries and small vineyards.

While it should be simple to achieve this, the process is unnecessarily difficult. The first thing I have to show is that there is public support for my proposal. This is where I need help.

If you want to help save our cider heritage please sign my online petition at http://www.ciderduty.com">www.ciderduty.com.

Daniel Dalton MEP.