If there is one issue that could unite Social Liberal Forum co-chair Gareth Epps and Danny Alexander, it’s beer. Gareth is a huge supporter of the Fair Deal for your local campaign, as any self-respecting CAMRA member should be. Danny is also a huge supporter of the micro breweries in his constituency. I spent a very pleasant evening sampling Loch Ness Brewery’s wares with his staff last Summer and hope to do the same next month.
It was the Cairngorm Brewery, though, who responded to Harriet Harman’s insult of Danny Alexander by producing a Ginger Rodent beer.
Tonight, that beer is on offer in Strangers’ Bar in the Palace of Westminster. Danny Alexander tweeted a picture of himself and Harriet Harman pouring that first pint.
Pouring Ginger Rodent in Stranger’s Bar with Sam Faircliff of Cairngorm Brewery and good sport Harriet Harman pic.twitter.com/y4K1ICMY2T
— Danny Alexander (@dannyalexander) July 2, 2013
Revenge is a beer best served not too cold.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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8 Comments
The fact there are 13 places in the Place of Westminister were you can buy alcohol says a lot about our so called betters and government as the cheek to talk about the perils of drink .
A great story; wonderful!
David Wilkinson:
Perhaps, and heavy drinking by some MPs is famous, but don’t equate drink being available or enjoying a beer with alcohol abuse.
David Wilkinson,
Given there are over 650 MPs, 800+ Peers and hundreds of other staff, interns, etc. to cater for, the number of separate establishments is not such as great a cause for moral outrage. Would fewer, larger venues be less outrageous?
I am always pleased to see Treasury Ministers supporting the microbrewery sector which has been one of the great successes in the UK economy in the last 10 years, doubling in number ever since Progressive Beer Duty was brought in. And the Liberal Democrats in 2000 were the first UK political party to support it through a Conference motion.
Rather than just the closed doors of Strangers’ Bar, I’d like to see these micros given wider market access, which is exactly what the Fair Deal campaign is striving to achieve. A number of breweries have supported the campaign, most of those I’ve spoken to, including several microbreweries and cider producers around me. Others, however, are concerned at the possibility of losing the limited market access they have to the huge pubco market if they speak out.
Ministers are restricted in the degree to which they can support campaigns, but Danny knows the Fair Deal campaign backs entrepreneurship, will reduce pressure on Treasury spending on financial support to pubco publicans (who research has shown earn far less than their colleagues in the free trade) and is opposed only by vested interests with no evidence to back the status quo, and resort to increasing desperation. See the story in today’s papers about Punch Taverns getting their licensees to submit canned letters to Government ‘praising their company’s integrity’ for a good example. Look at the list of over 150 supporters on the Fair Deal website, too, and you’ll see good Lib Dem support as well as plenty of Labour and Conservative names.
Heavily subsidised no doubt?
Whilst the introduction of Progressive Beer Duty has been a good thing, and has encouraged the creation of many micro breweries we shouldn’t be blind to the debate that is going on in the sector about the UK implementation of PBD which has created a divide between those brewing above and below 5,000hl [1 hectolitre = 100 litres] and serves as a strong disincentive for micro breweries to grow beyond this point.
Other than that, it is great to see distinctive real British beer being served in the Palace of Westminster [Aside:Will it be right to use the the terms British etc. in the context of a devolved Scotland?]
Roland – fair point. (Although dwarved somewhat by the pubco issue)