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Julie, D Smithers, Thanks for your kind comments! I spoke directly with the GMB press office. Happy?

Won't reveal the source of information. DCLG asked me to clarify that Healey had a long standing commitment in Bristol.http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/86177 I guess the point I was making was that we now have a pubs minister and there have been two key events — the Westminster debate by Nigel Evans and the meeting yesterday where it would have been great for a pubs minister to be there. Given the fact the appointment was made in the News of the World and there was little official knowledge of the appointment, we, like everyone else, want to know if there will be substance to this appointment. Or is it a bit of pre-election PR? I hope its the former because pubs do need help. Ewan

Look, not everything is a conspiracy theory here! Steve has been known to use for a number of years now, ever since I went to cover the refurb he did at the Cutter Inn. It was one of the best I had seen and he is clearly a knowledgeable guy. At no point has there been Enterprise involvement in our dealings with Steve. No press releases, no phone calls, nothing. From that day at the Cutter, Steve then won a couple of awards at our awards do and as part of our MA-200 club as well, we have kept up to speed with what he is doing. I must stress it is always us that phone Steve to see if there any developments or generally to ask whats going on out there. We do that with a number of people - that's an important part of gathering stories. So how did we get this news. Last week, we spoke to Steve on an unrelated matter asked how things were going, he said may have some news next week. We asked him to call us if he did. He did and I put a series of questions to him, which he was happy to answer. Not all licensees we speak to are so open about disclosing what rents are and what trading level they hope to achieve. From our point, we cover both sides of the tie debate. You can't say we don't cover cases where its clear the relationship with the pubco doesn't work. But there are people who make a success of it and its good to hear from then as well — wouldn't you agree? Judging by the number of comments and the number of people who have read the article online, I would say that a lot of people are interested in hearing that side as well. Ewan

Robin, fair enough – I hold my hands up! The second part is correct though, but you are right he wasn't actually at the second part. Anyway, anything else you want to ask Robin?

Maybe Chris, here is the article you are referring to: http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/news.ma/article/85693