Conservatives back action on beer tie

Rob, you say: "Although on the bright side they say that will make me an extra £80 per week." Have you done the maths yourself? If you do you will find that their figure of £80 better off per week is not accurate. At worst you will be level with where you are now and at worst you'll be squeezed even tighter.

How do I know this? Simple. Pubcos NEVER do anything to make anyone, other than themselves, better off. Any buttering up of the figures, apparent easing of the tie or their general trading terms is ALWAYS countered by at least an equal shift somewhere else in the mix which always is in their favour leaving at best a cost neutral outcome but making things appear more benign for people like the Business Innovations and Skills Committee to be told by the pubcos' highly respected public voices of Brigid Simmonds, Mark Hastings, Martin Rawlings et al.

It's worth pointing out while the Chair of BISC is Tory Peter Luff, one of the best informed politicians about the pub trade and also one of the most highly critical, the Conservatives as a party lag far behind the other parties on pubs when it comes to policy. Tobias Ellwood proved this by his lacklustre performance last month at the All Party Q&A session on the pub trade chaired by Greg Mulholland at parliament.