Parliamentary Beer Group 'not buying MPs'

The All-Party Beer Group already satisfies upcoming rules on transparency for Parliamentary groups — that's according to its secretary Robert Humphreys in response to accusations in the Guardian.

The newspaper highlighted the Beer Group, which receives £52,000 per year from pub and drinks companies, in a story about accusations that corporations use Parliamentary groups to "buy interest" among MPs.

"The money is spent on running the administration," said Humphreys. "None of it goes to MPs. We are completely transparent.

"It's true that there's some beer on hand and MPs drink it. I'm not embarrassed about that because that's the interest of our group.

"It's the price you pay for being open that occasionally you get criticised. Most people understand that if you have a job you should get paid."

Several major pub and drinks companies, including Punch, Diageo, Heineken UK, Greene King and Molson Coors, donated £4,800 to the Beer Group in 2010.

Humphreys said the group's procedures surpass new regulations on Parliamentary groups that are set to be implemented for existing bodies in the next few months.

These include forcing group secretariats, if they are from a lobbying company, to disclose the identity of their clients.

"As far as we can see we won't have to make any changes," said Humphreys.

It's not the first time the Beer Group has come under fire.

In 2009 Channel 4's Dispatches programme reported accusations that the group didn't examine the beer tie in its Community Pubs Report because of the influence of its pubco sponsors.

Former MP John Grogan, who chaired the Beer Group at the time, said the tie wasn't examined because the Trade & Industry Select Committee had recently reported on the issue when the inquiry began in 2006.