{"id":5579,"date":"2025-07-28T10:11:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T10:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=5579"},"modified":"2025-07-28T10:12:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T10:12:39","slug":"introduction-to-august-september-2025-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/07\/28\/introduction-to-august-september-2025-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to August\/September 2025 edition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First the good news.  Despite a number of scare stories in the press, the government is not going to ban the advertising of alcohol.  That would almost certainly have made the production of the printed version of this magazine impossible.  That said, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care did say, \u201cWe are exploring options for partial restrictions to bring it closer in line with the advertising of unhealthy food\u201d\u2013 <\/em>whatever that might mean.  It is thought that the terms of the recent trade deal with the USA might have been an issue here because American exporters would have claimed that a widespread advertising ban was a \u2018non-tariff barrier\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government\u2019s denial of the advertising ban came with the release of their ten year plan for the NHS.  The leisure industry\u2019s main representative body, UKHospitality, has urged that there should not be \u2018blunt and ill-suited measures\u2019<\/em> introduced to control restaurants and pubs, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s also important to remember that hospitality is a place for special occasions and where many people gather for a treat.  Whether it\u2019s a trip to the local pub, dining out at a restaurant or getting a takeaway, these are occasions that really matter to people and what they look forward to.  These instances aren\u2019t a daily occurrence and likely to be a treat every few weeks or months.  We need to ensure the sector isn\u2019t pushed into new rules that end up tainting these experiences<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not for the first time, the Guardian <\/em>newspaper used pictures of pints of beer in a pub to illustrate an article on alcohol abuse.\u00a0 They were taken to task by Laura Emson, a member of CAMRA\u2019s National Executive and chair of CAMRA’s Member and Volunteer Experience Committee.\u00a0 She wrote to them as follows: \u201cWhy are you still using the images of people drinking socially to illustrate articles about the harm of alcohol?\u00a0 Firstly, the pub is a social hub and provides many benefits, including employment and significant taxes to the public purse, all the while doing less harm than the alternative \u2013<\/a> slabs of strong beer sold by supermarkets reclaiming VAT and other ways to artificially reduce the price.\u00a0 You also do not know that the drinks being drunk even contain alcohol.\u00a0 Low and no alcohol drinks are the fastest growth area of the sector and could easily be in those glasses.\u00a0 Yes, look at the health ramifications but don’t make it about pubs. \u00a0They are more part of the solution than they are the problem.\u00a0 Make your sub-editors do a better job and stop being so lazy<\/em>.\u201d
Tony Hedger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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