Someone called Lucy Powell has awoken to realise her party is destroying the pub culture and she is concerned about voters fleeing the sinking ship SS New Liebour, sorry the loss of communities. I will put out her post and rip apart each section.
The strength of public feeling in support of post offices has showed how much care the government needs to take to ensure policies support rather than undermine people's strong sense of attachment to their local community. Yet with almost six pubs closing every day across the country, including here in south Manchester, the decline of local community pubs promises to be as important a political issue as the future of post offices.
Gosh 6 pubs a day, well I wonder how that happened then Lucy? Maybe the constant tax rises, the fact that you are unable - thanks to EU regulations split the tax rates on booze between than in the shops and the pubs. Oh and the tax escalator, over regulation, an over complicated system of licenses all brought in by guess who over the last 12 years? Yep Labour.
You want some more? Then how about these examples: Petty pen pushers in town halls imposing plastic glass regulations(pubs in my town centre having to use plastic after 6pm), reports on police demanding CCTV cameras be installed, threats to charge them for policing -despite the fact that policing is paid for from the community charge. All costs imposed by your government.
A new poll that came out on Monday shows just how worried people are about the decline of communities, and how strongly they identify the Great British Pub as a vital part of community life. According to the poll carried out by ComRes, 83% of people say community spirit and values are under threat, and 63% of people believe that the local pub is an important element of local communities.And that is what you, your party are destroying.
Pressure is building for action to protect pubs from what is becoming a catastrophic decline. More than 155 MPs, including 73 of Labour MPs, have signed a parliamentary motion (Early Day Motion 10) to save the Great British pub, and a campaign run by the beer and pub industry and CAMRA, the campaign for real ale, already has tens of thousands of supporters.A catastrophic decline is it? Well you know you were warned about this by Camra and others, who have been speaking on this subject for years. Each time a rise in duty is added more pubs close. Simple cause and effect. Hell your party has been warned year in and year out, the result of which has been nothing.
As for EDM's they are a waste of time and effort, a feelgood fluff moment for the MP's involved to say look I am concerned before getting back to fiddling the expenses.
On Wednesday this week, five government ministers will be appearing before MPs to hear of deep concerns about the future of what is not only a symbol and a part of our national life, but also a major employer which directly accounts for more than 650,000 jobs. We can't afford to lose traditional brewers as beer sales decline to levels not seen for decades.
There are many reasons for that decline. But one major reason is the availability of cheap alcohol in supermarkets, sold at deep discounts by giant chains whose prices can't be matched by pubs struggling to make ends meet. So while alongside the decline of the local - the traditional setting for responsible social drinking - we see youngsters getting drunk on booze that is too cheaply on sale in the High Street.
Oh dear, you just don't get it do you Lucy. The supermarkets are a symptom of the decline, an added factor if you will not the cause. The cause is the overheads, in a word taxes. Taxes imposed both by Gordon and his current sockpuppet in No.11. You say about them yet JD Wetherspoon a supermarket in pubs clothing was knocking out ale at 99p a pint.
The small pub after rents, rates, taxes, wages, NI, etc has all been paid, after all the paperwork has been done can not compete with the corporate chains.
The government needs to deal with this problem, while doing something to relieve the pressure on the beer and pub trade. As a first step it should re-think its plans to impose further across the board tax increases on beer in next month's budget - a policy the Chancellor first announced in last year's budget. Monday's poll, commissioned by the British Beer and Pub Association, also shows that 70% of the public want this policy changed.Will the 70% get it, well not likely (link)Well lets be realistic here, the fake charities - links below- will be screaming about a drinkers charter and Gordon needs the tax. Never mind that as more pubs close his revenues will sink down.
In parallel, steps could be taken to ensure that supermarkets charge a fair and resonable price for alcohol, instead of the give-away, loss-leading prices we often see. I'm not sure that the proposals unveiled by the Scottish Executive yesterday have the balance right but at least they get the debate going.
As for the fools up in the land of the tundra I covered them here.
Thats part of free market economics, a duty freeze. Hell a reduction across the board, as well as freeze on business rates, a reduction in paperwork. Now those measures would work.
There would be no disgrace in the Chancellor changing his mind on this issue. The entire economic picture has changed beyond recognition in the last 12 months and, with once high-flying industries now seeking state subsidies to survive, the call for tax increases on the struggling beer and pub industry to be shelved seems positively modest.
With the return of Keynesian economics in the last few months, I hope Alistair Darling might draw some inspiration from one the great economist's most famous lines - ‘When the facts change, I change my mind.' Scrapping the increases in beer tax would be a truly popular piece of Keynesianism.
Oh if the Chancellor thinks he will be making any friends in the pub trade I fear he is somewhat misguided, as this little campaign to have him barred on Facebook shows.
Oh and this rather shocking list(now out of date as a few more have closed in recent months) shows the pubs closed in or very near Newport in Gwent: Newport Pub closures.
These fake charities are listed here at fake charities, funded in the main by the state.
Alcohol Concern—an anti-drinking lobby group that receives less than 1% of its income from public donations Alcohol Focus Scotland—no strangers to a hand-out Alliance House Foundation—a well established temperance group founded in 1853. It funds the Institute for Alcohol Studies. Institute of Alcohol Studies—the research wing of the modern temperance movement. Funded by the Alliance House Foundation and the European Commission.
Previous posts and links: EU control our taxes on beer.
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2 people have spoken:
I'll drink to that!
Yep same here but not in a Wetherspoons obviously.
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