Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Minister Lorely Burt has called cheap booze in supermarkets the "biggest problem" and reiterated her party's support for minimum pricing.
She told the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers autumn event that "loss-leading pricing has got to stop" because it was fuelling anti-social behaviour.
Burt also said that she thought pub tenants were "getting squeezed more and more".
She added: "I like the (tenanted) model — it's a symbiotic relationship and allows low-cost entry."
She said that she hoped the current mediation would result in a solution that means "the cake is divided more fairly, the balance gets restored".
Burt told her audience that she supported a "post-impact assessment" system for new regulation so that its impact on business was properly looked at.
She argued that the job of Government was "to create a fair playing field and then to get off the pitch".
• Get all the latest pub trade news every day direct to your inbox. Sign-up for our news alerts. Click here .
Related Forum comments