Is Darling the Beeching of pubs?

By Adam Wilshaw

A NORTH DEVON pub trade spokesman has accused chancellor Alistair Darling of being the “Dr Beeching of pubs”.

The comparison is to the widescale railway cuts of the 1960s, administered by Dr Richard Beeching, which led to numerous smaller branch lines being closed.

Barry Lewis, chairman of the Barnstaple and North Devon Licensed Victuallars Association, said: “Supermarkets and Beer Duty are killing us. Mr Darling is the Dr Beeching of pubs. There are 589 licensed pubs in North Devon and they police their own establishments, supermarkets do not. Once the alcohol has left the premises they wash their hands of it, yet we seem to be held responsible.”

Mr Darling has been widely disliked by the pub trade for some time, and there was even a campaign to bar him from every pub in the country.

North Devon MP Nick Harvey said: “I appreciate that with off-sales there are no real control measures at the point of consumption. I have had meetings with the licensing minister and the treasury to argue that the latest rise in beer duty is too much of blunt instrument to tackle this problem. There needs to be minimum pricing for supermarkets and I am now pressing for this.”

The Journal published a special report in October examining the current fate of our local pubs. According to the many pub landlords we spoke to, talk of the end of the pub seemed premature, although it was clear the trade was perhaps facing the toughest conditions for a generation.

But active North Devon Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) member Terry Burrows said local pubs which sell quality ale and decent food in a friendly environment will thrive despite the recession. He said some pubs in the area were closing or bereft of custom, but the pubs he cherished most were popular and relatively profitable.

From the North Devon Journal.

North Devon Camra