Charlbury politician defeats Government
A familiar face in Charlbury has inflicted the first Commons defeat on Conservative/LibDem coalition ministers.
Gareth Epps, a LibDem and CAMRA activist and former Town Councillor, is one of the guiding spirits behind the "Fair Deal for your Local" campaign. The campaign yesterday succeeded in an amendment to loosening the "beer tie". The tie restricts brewery-owned pubs - such as the Bell in Charlbury - from buying beer elsewhere at market rates. Gareth now lives in Reading but is still well known to many in Charlbury.
The campaign explains its aims as:
"We support the principle that a tied licensee should be no worse off than a free-of-tie licensee. Join us in calling for:
- Market Rent Only (free of tie option) and Guest Beer Options for licensees of large Pubcos
- A powerful Code and Adjudicator to monitor large Pubcos and end abuses."
You can read more at www.fairdealforyourlocal.com/ .
Richard Fairhurst · Wed 19 Nov 2014, 12:26 · Link