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News Article Comments : MP stages vigil to highlight pub threat
A Lib Dem MP staged a 13-hour vigil at the House of Commons to highlight the threat to the Great British pub.
Colchester MP Bob Russell waited from 8.40pm outside the Commons Chamber so that he could be among the first in queue to table an Early Day Motion (EDM) when the doors opened at 10am.
The EDM — a petition for MPs — calls for support for the British Beer and Pub Association and Camra's campaign to Axe the Beer Tax and Save the Great British Pub.
"I see the 24-hour drinking culture provided by the supermarkets and I see the mega pubs like Wetherspoons and they are killing off traditional community pubs," Russell told the Morning Advertiser .
"It is all very well the Government talking about sustainable communities but the reality is very different. The swingeing taxation increases will have a catastrophic impact on small community pubs."
Russell is calling on all licensees to get in touch with their MPs to sign up to the EDM. "My role is to give the campaign a focus in Parl
| Author Name | Opinion | Reply |
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Stephen Docking 05/12/2008 16:08:26  |
RE: MP stages vigil to highlight pub threat Come on, guys and girls! Show him some support. A late, but timely intervention and let's all email the BEC secretariat with tales of woe over the weekend...every little helps, as one slighty unregulated retailer says! This post replies to this thread |
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Forum user 3940 05/12/2008 17:26:06 |
RE: MP stages vigil to highlight pub threat Oh dear. Where has this guy been all this time? I doubt he has ever heard of the tie or pubcos or the fact that a £billion a year is being syphoned out of the pub industry, and much of it out of the UK, to service unsustainable debt. What Wetherspoons has got to do with todays problems, God only knows. Anyway, I am sure the rest of the Lib Dems will straighten him out. Well meant, but way off the mark. This post replies to this thread |
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WhiskeyGalore 05/12/2008 17:51:51 |
MP stages vigil to highlight pub threat Wetherspoons are the supermarket of the pub world. They entered the market piling it high and selling it cheap. The easily bought British public flocked to them. The traditional local suffered badly. Wetherspoons have no atmosphere, no music and until recently no TV. They certainly never offer live music, karaoke, quizzes or anything else to entertain their customers. If you buy your milk from the supermarket don't complain when your kids have no idea what a milkman is. We're like a wet apathetic weekend in this country and it's nice for once to see someone standing up and being counted. This post replies to this thread |
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| Tony Bolland 05/12/2008 19:29:35 |
RE: MP stages vigil to highlight pub threat What are you talking about . I am glad one MP has started this vigil ,unfortunately I do not think the government of today or of yesterday actually understands the Pub industry ,not only does it provide thousands of full and part time jobs it also provides thoudands of homes for families trying to run a small business. With the controls ,regulation and licenses in place for pubs and clubs as well as high running costs .The government simply miss the point every time by putting up duty ,as pubs close hundreds go onto the dole claim more benefits .Meanwhile Supermarkets fuel out of control drinking in an irresposible way. Who knows who drinks the alcohol purchased from them ,who stops someone when they have had too much to drink ,who asks fo ID when this cheap alcohol is being consumed in parks ,in houses ,on the street? No-one. Stop supermarkets selling alcohol ,they never used to sell it ,you went to the pub or the off licence simple.You paid the going rate ,not 3 cases for £18 ,or £10 for a litre of spirit. If the light bulb does not go on in the cabinet soon then it may be too late. This post replies to Forum user 3940 > RE: MP stages vigil to highlight pub threat |
