Licensing MPs want beer tie CC referral

MPs in charge of licensing for all three main political parties came out in favour of referring the beer tie to the Competition Commission in a Westminster debate last night.

Government's licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe, Conservative shadow licensing minister Tobias Ellwood and the Liberal Democrat's Don Foster agreed that an immediate referral of the tie to the Competition Commission would be the best step forward rather than giving the pubcos until June 2011 to change.

Over 100 people attended the debate in the House of Commons, which was jointly hosted by the Campaign for Real Ale and the All-Party Save the Pub Group.

Answering a question posed by Justice for Licensees leader Inez Ward, Ellwood said: "I would recommend to Ken Clarke that the answer (to whether the beer tie should be immediately referred) is yes."

Sutcliffe added that his personal preference was an immediate referral, while Foster also called for immediate action.

Responding to a question from Fair Pint's Steve Corbett, Lib Dem's Foster said he didn't "necessarily see the principle of the tie as being wrong", but rather the fact that it is not being properly operated at the moment.

Sutcliffe said: "The tie does need to be looked at, as it's not working".

When it came to duty Foster said he believed "the duty escalator has got to come to an end," although he added this would leave a question about "how we would fill the black hole".

Ellwood tried to sidestep the duty question, saying it was "outside of his brief", while Sutcliffe said he had made representations on belhalf of the industry to the Treasury department, but we would have to wait until 24 March for the Budget.

Other issues covered included minimum pricing, which Sutcliffe said "creates more problems than it solves" and, according to Foster, the "pocket money prices" supermarkets charge for beer.