Lib Dems slam pubco conduct

By Ewan Turney

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Leeds north west Westmorland and lonsdale Tim farron

Lib Dems slam pubco conduct
Two Lib Dem MPs have joined the FFPA to call for an end to "excessive rents"

Two Lib Dem MPs have joined forces with the Freedom For Pubs Association (FFPA) to call for pubcos to put an end to "excessive rents"​.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron and Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland have tabled a Commons motion calling for an end to "Upward Only Rent Reviews"​ and for the Government to refer the matter to the Competition Commission.

The FFPA was set up in 2004 at the time of the Trade & Industry Select Committee inquiry into pubco power. It wants an end to the beer tie.

"As many as 27 pubs a week are closing in Britain, towns and villages up and down the country are losing the hub of the community and this simply cannot continue,"​ said Farron.

"The number of bankruptcies in the pub trade has increased seven-fold since 2006-7 and the pubcos have completely failed to adopt the recommendations of the Trade and Industry Select Committee.

"It is high time the Competition Commission took a long hard look at the situation and begins to redress the balance."

Fellow Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland added: "The Beer Orders were supposed to give us more choice yet they simply replaced the dominant big brewers with even more dominant pubcos.

"It is time the Goverment agreed to look again at this and came up with proposals for reform to deliver consumers the kind of real choice we were promised more than twenty years ago."

Mike Bell of the Freedom for Pubs Association said: "The pub trade has been through World Wars and full-blown recessions and yet today even excellent, well run pubs are closing in unprecedented numbers.

"It is good to see that a handful of politicians are aware of the deep-rooted problems caused by the pub companies' abuse of corporate power and their financially unworkable tied/leased business model, and giving us all an opportunity to get the message across to the Government."

Anti-pubco petition for MPs launched​.

Related topics Legislation

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