UKIP confirms status as party of the pub
Monday, 26th April 2010
UKIP today confirmed itself as the pubs' favourite party with the launch of a new specialist pubs policy that would see landlords freed to reopen smoking rooms and tax cut on certain draft beers.
UKIP's deputy leader and head of policy, David Campbell Bannerman, says the proposals, available to download from the Policies section of the UKIP site, will help to restore the Great British pub to the heart of the community.
Key points in the document include a tax cut for draft beers and ciders, the setting up of a Royal Commission to investigate the pricing structures used by supermarkets selling cheap alcohol, a reduction in the power of large pubcos and incentives for landlords to diversify their businesses to attract extra income.
The new policies come in the middle of Nigel Farage's hugely successful attempt to share a drink with locals in every pub in the Buckingham constituency, where he plans to unseat the incumbent MP, Commons Speaker John Bercow.
Quoted last week in the Morning Advertiser, the paper of the pub trade, Mr Farage said: "It’s a strong and long-held belief of mine that pubs matter; they matter in the sense of community and when they disappear the community loses something very special. It’s not a tangible thing you can put a price on.
“It fascinates me that our pubs are the envy of the world and are now being directly threatened. I want to fight, raise a voice and, if I can, to try and help.”
