James Wilmore: 2010's political highs and lows
The award for how not to make friends with a certain (vociferous) section of the trade Gillian Merron. In February, the then public health minister told a Westminster committee that the smoking ban had not been responsible for closing pubs and was a "tremendous success". She really should have checked our website before saying something like that…
Most inappropriate Daily Mail headline (where to begin?) Ah, the Daily Mail. Where would we be without this organ of moral righteousness? The Mail excitedly exclaimed back in July: "At last! An end to 24-hour drinking: Victory for the Mail as ministers pledge to scrap Labour's failed licensing laws".
Besides the fact the laws are not actually being scrapped, "24-hour drinking" has always been a complete misnomer, as pubs on average stay open an average of 20 minutes or so, and only a handful have a round-the-clock licence.
The victory also referred to a previous Daily Mail campaign - 'Say no to 24-hour pubs'. We didn't bother to point out the Mail in fact changed the name of the campaign to - 'Say no to 24-hour drinking' - back in 2005, after pressure from The Publican through our own campaign -'Say no to the Daily Mail' …
Most intriguing showdown Diageo upset the industry applecart in August by making public its stance on alcohol duty. The argument, known as "equivalence", effectively called for beer, cider and wine duty levels to be raised to bring them in line with spirits.
Plenty of BBPA members, especially brewing ones, threw a wobbly and wanted Diageo off the team. BBPA chief exec Brigid Simmonds was forced to call in Diageo chief Simon Litherland for a little chat. Both sides are still keeping tight-lipped, but rumours suggest some form of compromise may have been reached. Trebles all round!?
Licensing lingo To prove the Daily Mail's influence on government policy, you only have to look at the rhetoric that's been used around the proposed licensing changes. At the Tory Party conference in October, scary Theresa May warned she would "tear up" the Licensing Act, playing into the hands of headlines writers.
But earlier in the year, the Home Office had been referring to the changes as an "overhaul". And when the draft policy finally arrived it was described as a "re-balancing". Meanwhile, Home Office sources were saying the Act was being "tweaked slightly". Make your minds up folks!
Most joke mileage from a minister's height…ever New pubs minister Bob Neill is what you might politely refer to as "vertically-challenged". But the member for Bromley and Chislehurst is always quick to get in a reference to his height when speaking publicly. So, at last week's ALMR lunch, he started by saying: "I'll keep this short… it won't be hard really."
His Tory colleague Andrew Griffiths, vice chair of the Beer Group, also joked recently that it was appropriate having a pubs minister who is "pint-sized". These MPs really have got a smashing sense of humour. Haven't they?
Hero(es) for disgruntled tied tenants Where to begin? If ever you needed evidence that pubcos and the beer tie have become a political football, just take a look back on the number of MPs who have voiced their concern in the last 12 months.
Labourites John Healey, David Miliband and Ken Livingstone all spoke out about the beer tie. Business Secretary Vince Cable acknowledged licensees were "frustrated" with the tie.
Adrian Bailey, chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills committee, said the pubcos will be called before MPs next year as part of the on-going inquiry. And let's not forget Greg Mulholland (between the 51st and 57th most influential Lib Dem in Parliament), whose relentless and dogged pursuit of the pubcos (Enterprise in particular) has made him a hero to some.
But in the interests of political balance, we'll call it a draw.
And... the general election. It came. It went. We weren't sure where we were for five days. But now it's all fine...
