'Labour should apologise for pub closures'
A Government minister has called for Labour to apologise for the net closure of 3,500 pubs in England during its reign.
Local Government minister Grant Shapps said Labour's policy of tax hikes and lack of action against cheap supermarket alcohol contributed to the loss of pubs.
Official Government statistics show the net number of pubs the Rating List dropped 3,530 from 1997 to 2009.
Southwark tops the list, losing 110 of its pubs, followed by Liverpool with 100 and Birmingham with 90.
London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Southwark and Newham have all lost a third of their pubs since 1997 while Kings Lynn, Lewisham, Salford, Oswestry, Knowsley, Corby and Greenwich saw a quarter of their local pubs close down.
"We should take no lectures from former Labour Ministers who presided over the closure of 3,500 pubs when they were in government," said Shapps.
"Labour hiked taxes on pubs and did nothing to stop unfair loss-leading by supermarkets. They only people they helped were the yobs who benefited from the 24 hour licensing laws which fuelled a surge in alcohol-fuelled violence in our high streets.
"Labour must apologise for the harm they did to community pubs across the country."
Shapps said the Coalition would help pubs by banning the sale of below cost alcohol, reforming licensing laws to make it easier for pubs to host live music and provide expert advice to communities looking to buy pubs.
"The new Coalition Government has scrapped Labour's unfair cider tax, will give local residents a community right to buy to save local pubs, will stop unfair selling by supermarkets and is cutting red tape on live music in pubs.
"Pub landlords don't want state handouts. They want a level playing field and less government regulation getting in the way."
However, the Coalition Government has also promised an "overhaul" of licensing, which could see the introduction of a late night levy, the introduction of health as a licensing objective and give even more power to residents over licensing.
It also recently announced the axing of £4.3m worth of funding set aside by the Labour Government to help community pubs. Former Pubs Minister John Healey slammed the funding axe as a "slash and burn approach to key local services".
Critics would also point to the impact of the smoking ban, which the Coalition failed to mention, and a shift in consumer behaviour during the 12-year period.
Anti-beer tie campaigners would also question the role of the pubco business model on pub closures.
