A landlord has won his fight not to install CCTV cameras in his pub after the case was taken up by the information commissioner. Nick Gibson, of the Drapers Arms in Islington, said police insistence that he set up cameras to film every customer entering and leaving the premises would threaten drinkers' civil liberties - The Guardian
Higher alcohol prices could improve health and also benefit retailers, according to an Aberdeen academic. Professor Anne Ludbrook said the Scottish Government's minimum alcohol pricing plan could be a "win-win" for consumers and the industry. She calculated that even if consumption fell by as much as 30 per cent the industry's revenue could rise - BBC
More than half of Britain's small villages now have no local and it is a trend, darkly mutters the pub industry, that could get worse. The most recent burden on publicans' shoulders is increased beer tax (up 18 per cent last year, according to the BBPA, at a cost of £520 million). The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) asserts that about 2,000 pubs have closed in the past 12 months, with the loss of 20,000 jobs. Added to that, further threatened tax hikes place at risk an estimated 75,000 jobs - and many thousands of pubs - The Times
A thousand jobs a week have been lost in pubs over the last year, figures showed yesterday. The news came as the industry is pressing Chancellor Alistair Darling to throw it a lifeline in his Budget next month. Alcohol taxes are due to rise this year and for each of the next three by two per cent above inflation if Mr Darling sticks to the plan he announced in last year's Budget - The Daily Express
Landlords will use walkie talkies to report antisocial thugs to avoid more teenage tragedies like the stabbing of Rob Knox. Bill Mead, landlord of Millers Arms pub, in Old Bexley High Street, has joined a network of publicans who want to disrupt yobs by reporting trouble makers to other pubs - Bexley Times