David Miliband pledges to save British pubs
Labour leadership hopeful David Miliband has launched plans to save Britain's local pubs as part of his bid to take control of his party.
On his blog, Miliband criticised the coalition Government for failing to install a dedicated pubs minister - a role the Labour Government handed to John Healey shortly before the General Election.
Miliband revealed that he would take the issue of the "tie" head on, offering licensees the opportunity to opt out of the tie by strengthening the industry's statutory code of practice.
"One of the biggest problems facing pubs is the ‘tie' - forcing some pub landlords to buy their beer and other services solely from the pub companies (‘pubcos') they rent from. This means many of them pay over the odds, which reduces their profitability and increases the price for drinkers," he said.
He also pledged to strengthen planning laws to give community pubs greater protection, by forcing pubcos to undergo a public consultation first, before they were allowed to change the use of the property or demolish it.
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By Neil Gerrard
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