I'll start it off when labour banned smoking in pubs clubs etc etc good thing ,
But perhaps the verdict on that should wait until the way it's presented is known and any ulterior motives exposed.....Cameron having the in or out referendum GOOD THING !
The ban hastened the closing of many ordinary pubs
Pubs are closing simply because of the greedy pubco's that own them. I can remember the government at the time trying to break the monopoly of the "tied house" situation. Many breweries simply put up the rent to extortionate prices, then told the government "We can't get anyone to take on the tenancy,,, we'll have to put a manager in."
I didn't doubt your opinion, until I read the link:You think I'm wrong Himaginn?? I have raised valid points. Breweries got greedy, the government got greedy, (read blighty's linked article) Landlords were always greedy. Pubco's continue to close more pubs than they open.
So would I accept your opinion in favour of The Institute of Economic Affairs?The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has the answers, and the culprits are not the greedy, supposedly useless pub companies that so many people love to hate so obsessively. Its new report by Christopher Snowdon is chock-a-block with fascinating facts and reveals how a variety of powerful forces including tax, regulation and cultural change are destroying one of Britain’s most iconic industries.
I don't particularly take issue with this part of your comment. But I don't think it's a major valid point. I suspect that the tax that the IEA referred to:How many times in budget speeches have we heard, "This will mean a penny on the price of a pint." Yep and how many pubs have you been in after the budget where the price has only gone up by 1p ?? Bloody none that's what. By the time us punters are paying for it, the brewery have put their prices up, the landlord too has put his bit on and before you know it, a pint now goes up by 10p (and often more).
Budgetary increases on VAT etc weren't mentioned.Taxes have been one key problem. Planning rules that push up the cost of operating pubs - especially when compared with supermarkets - haven’t helped either.