A round with The Publican

In the first of a new series, we look at what made the news in The Publican this week 10 years ago, five years ago and last year.

1994​

• The pub trade's National Parliamentary Committee calls on licensees hampered by the beer tie to provide them with evidence. Trade minister Neil Hamilton pledges to send submissions to the OFT
• Trade leaders claim any lowering of Britain's drink-drive limits would have a "catastrophic" effect on pubs, as the government reviews its line on sensible drinking
• Bedford brewer Charles Wells is cleared of intentionally breaching the Beer Orders by the OFT after it placed restrictive covenants on pubs sold to private purchasers for use as residential houses

1999​

• As the country gears up for the millennium, pubs hit back at the suggestion they are "party poopers". According to The Publican's Market Report 1999, only three per cent were planning to stay open from 11am on December 31 to 11pm on January 1
• Trade leaders campaigning for lower duty rates are
  privately warned by a senior minister to distance themselves from the tobacco industry (pictured)​
• As Home Office officials begin drafting the White Paper on licensing, campaigners call on the government to speed up the reforms

2003​

• National Pub Football Week kicks off in the week of vital qualification matches for Euro 2004
• Licensees are slammed for failing to take the new Licensing Act seriously in a conference speech by leading local authority chief Patrick Crowley
• Pubs in London reap the benefits of a power cut that left Tube and train lines closed. Richard Bell, manager of the Hole in the Wall near Waterloo, says: "We were mobbed all night!"