Survey shows 'lack of faith' in political leaders to protect pubs

03-Aug-2023 - Last updated on 04-Aug-2023 at 08:22 GMT

Lack of faith: 43% of Brits don't trust political party leaders to look out for the interest of pubs (Credit: Getty/Robert Ingelhart)

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Almost half of Brits do not trust the Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat party leaders to look out for the interest of British pubs, new research has revealed.

The data, configured by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) showed two in five (43%) of those surveyed did not trust the political party leaders, demonstrating a “lack of faith” in Government to protect pubs, the campaign stated.

Labour’s Keir Starmer fared best, with 17% of respondents saying they would trust him to look out for the interests of pubs, while Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey saw just 3% of Brits state they would trust him with pubs in mind.

Meaningful action

Conservative Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who earlier this week visited CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival 2023 in London, only had the trust of 9% of Brits regarding the interests of pubs.

CAMRA national chairman Nik Antona said: “Sadly, this data suggests the public’s perception is that our beloved locals have often been an afterthought in politics.

“We often hear politicians playing lip service to the community and social value of our locals – which is brilliant – but we need that to be backed up with meaningful action.

“With a general election approaching, these results should be a wakeup call for politicians, who need to have substantive policies in place to address the catalogue of issues facing the pub trade.”

Fighting chance

This comes as data from CAMRA, released Tuesday 1 August, revealed 772 sites had been classed as long-term closed in the first six months of this year, equivalent to 30 pubs a week, due to issues with the National Planning Policy Framework.

While the consumer organisation said it has always maintained “party-political neutrality”, the group has recently voiced its concerns for the future of British pubs, namely regarding draught duty.

Antona added: “CAMRA believes our pubs and social clubs deserve a fighting chance with urgent action needed on energy prices, business rates, a fix for the takeaway pints issue caused by the new alcohol duty system, and the right for licensees to choose what products they keep on the bar without stock lists being dictated by pub companies.”