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I am one of Kitty's constituents and I
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2 September 2005
Kitty demands an ‘honest pint’
Kitty Ussher MP is urging the Government to tighten legislation to ensure that Burnley’s beer drinkers get exactly what they order in their pub or club – a full pint.
Kitty has signed an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons and is supporting the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) ‘honest pint’ campaign to protect beer drinkers from getting short measures.
Kitty said;
“When you order a pint of beer you should get a pint. However, due to a loophole in the law that takes into account the ‘head’, pubs are actually able to give you a pint that is only 95% liquid rather than the full 100%. CAMRA members in Burnley have contacted me about their campaign and they estimate that short measures cost Britain’s beer drinkers over £1 million every day!
The huge majority of publicans are honest people who work hard to keep their customers happy. But some unscrupulous pub companies apparently place unreasonable demands on pub managers to get as much beer from a barrel as possible to increase profits. The only way to achieve this is by serving short measures.
This is clearly unacceptable and there is a clear need for beer drinkers to be protected in law.”
Ends
Editors Note:
1. The full text of Early Day Motion 404 is;
“That this House expresses concern at current proposals to define a pint of beer as not less than 95 per cent. liquid; notes that the Campaign for Real Ale, the Trading Standards Institute and Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services believes that the proposal will result in the proposed five per cent. tolerance being added to the existing deficiency threshold normally applied by enforcement agencies before considering prosecution action which will result in licensees being able to serve pints of substantially less than 95 per cent. liquid; further notes that short measures cost consumers over £400 million annually, HM Treasury over £54 million annually in lost excise revenues and brewers £133 million in lost beer sales; and therefore calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to protect consumers from short beer measures by defining a pint of beer as 100 per cent. liquid.”
2. Further details of the CAMRA campaign can be found at;
www.camra.org.uk/SHWebClass.asp?WCI=ShowCat&CatId=220
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Kitty is a regular contributor to parliamentary debates, asking questions of ministers on behalf of her constituents.
For more details of Kitty's parlimentary activities |
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In addition to her weekly column in Friday's Burnley Express, Kitty also writes for the Guardian on-line politics page as well as Tribune newspaper  |
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