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 Parliament — to focus attention on the plight of community pubs.
"I chose EDM number 10 because it would be memorable."
You can read the full EDM here.
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