Homebrew

The Pub Party manifesto

Disillusioned at the June 2009 elections, I moaned at the local landlord about the current options available.  We concluded people may prefer a new party, one they can relate to, a party with a meaningful manifesto.  The Pub Party.

Manifesto

Metric Pints

All UK 20 or 22 oz glasses should be etched at the 500ml mark.  When beer or lager is served, the liquid content MUST reach the etched mark.  Where the head stops is at the discretion of the landlord.  Providing "a short pint" will occur when there is less than 500ml of liquid, not when the contents (including the head) are less than 20 fluid ounces.  Breaching this law will have a serious financial punishment.

Alcohol duty by content

Why should a relatively low alcohol-content session ale have the same duty as a strong lager?  A gang of lads supping a session ale all night are less likely to get into serious trouble than the same lads charged up with rocket-fuel.  Having the same duty regardless of alcohol content encourages binge-drinking, reduces options for the drinker and causes trouble on the streets.  It is hard to have a proper fight when there's eight pints of Old Wallop sloshing around in one's belly.

Alcohol duty MUST be charged

Rather than allow the supermarkets to sell 3 litre bottles of 12% cider to kids at a huge loss (for those kids to go out and cause trouble on the streets), it shall be an offence to not charge the customer at least the duty component of the cost.  Why should shoppers be subsidising street fighting?

Make the' free water myth' become true

It used to be frequently said that all public houses must provide water on demand.  To assist with hangover-management and help good health generally, any establishment that sells alcohol for consumption on the premises (be it pub, wine bar, restaurant) shall, on demand, provide free drinking water from the tap (not bottled water unless the establishment itself so chooses) for any paying customer or member of a group with a paying customer, for consumption on the premises.

Licensing hours at the licence-holder's discretion

Unless a magistrate's court says otherwise, any alcohol licence will be 24x7.  It will be entirely up to the licence holder what hours they do open.

Simplify taxation for small businesses

Small businesses (including independent pubs, small breweries, small British vineyards, small distillers, home-brew shops, etc.) have a disproportionate burden on their tax management.  The tax system for small businesses will be simplified such that the majority of small business owners can complete their tax returns correctly by themselves without recourse to paying others to understand the paperwork for them.

Changes to the Entertainment Licence

To bring the UK into line with the rest of Europe,  no licence will be required for incidental live music.

Openness in the budget

Instead of the ongoing and duplicitous announcements of just 1p or 2p increases on items in each budget, the government will have to say from how much and to how much the duty will rise on tobacco, fuel and alcohol-related items.