Two Brighton and Hove MPs call for statutory measures to help pubs

Two of Brighton and Hove’s three MPs have backed a measure aimed at helping the pub trade.

They are supporting a call for a statutory code to ensure that those running pubs are no worse off if theirs is a tied house than if it’s a free house.

Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove, and Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, have both signed early day motion 57.

The motion is part of the Fair Deal for Your Local campaign and has the support of several organisation but not the big pub-owning companies.

Companies such as Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns have come in for criticism for taking more than is fair or sustainable from pub profits in inflated product prices and excessive rents.

As a result, say the critics, pubs have been going bust not necessarily as a result of their own failings.

Mr Weatherley said: “This bill will help to secure a sustainable future for Britain’s pubs.

“Pubs are in many areas central to community life.

“Licensed pub owners are important to the industry so a fair relationship between large pub companies and their licensees could result in a reduction in illegal traders of alcohol and create a boost to the economy.”

The motion follows a series of critical reports from the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee and its predecessors.

Simon Kirby, the Conservative MP for Brighton Kemptown and a former pub owner, was a member of the select committee when it published its most recent report on the subject.

The report also urged the government to bring in a statutory code to protect the pub companies’ tenants.