'The Budget is a good opportunity to show support for pubs'

"When this recession is over we will, sadly, come out the other side with a severely depleted stock of public houses. The British Beer & Pub Association says six pubs are shutting down every single day - and for no good reason. It is largely a matter of deliberate, perverse government policy. Beer tax was increased by 18 per cent last year alone, while supermarkets can sell beer or lager for as little as 23p a can, surely below cost. Sometimes you wonder whether ministers are completely tone deaf to what people care about. The Budget would be a good opportunity to show some sort of sensitivity to what is happening to the British pub - and indeed our excellent, indigenous brewers." - Sean O'Grady, writing in the Independent on Sunday ​

"More than 200 MPs have backed a campaign to save the 'great British pub'. Bob Russell tabled a parliamentary motion calling on the government to adopt a five-point plan to save the British pub. The Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester said traditional public houses were being 'unfairly priced out of the market while supermarkets offer cheap deals without the level of restrictions and responsibilities required' by licencees. The move comes as TV presenters Melanie Sykes and Oz Clarke supported a call by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and the Independent Family Brewers of Britain (IFBB) for tomorrow (Monday) to be recognised as National Beer Day." - Sunday Telegraph​

"Scotland Yard confirmed on Friday it has closed Operation Gestalt, a £5m six year-long investigation which probed a secret Customs investigation into a series of prosecutions brought between 1994 and 2001, in which it was claimed duty-free alcohol had been smuggled from London City Bond, a bonded warehouse in east London. The alcohol was meant to be shipped abroad - making it exempt from excise tax. But investigators found evidence of a black market, the booze being sent to certain cash-and-carry outlets for sale throughout the UK, without its leaving the country. The cases fell apart when Liverpool Crown Court heard that customs officers had actively encouraged offences in a sting operation." - Independent on Sunday​

"The great British pub lock-in is an institution, where we do things we wouldn't during normal hours and we behave as if the pub is our own living room. We unlock the jukebox and load the songs we all like; remove the pool table coin-slot and shoot games for free; use the wrong sex toilet…Even with the new 24-hour drinking laws, the greatest lock-ins are clandestine. You have to be physically and mentally locked in, with locals who share your desire for a secret nightcap." - Selena Godden, writing in the Observer​

"Commercial property advisers are bracing themselves for a landmark decision in the High Court on Tuesday, which could shake up the way business is conducted in the sector. JD Wetherspoon, the pub group, has accused its former property adviser, Van de Berg, of fraud during the 16 years it worked with the chain. Van de Berg found more than 600 properties for Wetherspoon and was paid around £14m from 1989 until 2005, when its contract was terminated. Wetherspoon claims that Van de Berg breached a contract of exclusivity and helped third parties to profit at its expense, by advising it to take leases on properties when freeholds were available. Van de Berg has denied the claims." - Independent on Sunday​

"Good pubs have been designed to keep the heat in. They have always centred on the efficient use of wood fires or similar low-carbon heat sources, frequently been noted for the thermal mass of their often-chunky walls, and long depended on locally sourced beer and food. Most importantly, they have always provided a place for people to share warmth of all varieties rather than sitting at home burning up the Earth's resources individually. So squeeze into those baths and cook those slugs if you like, because it's all good. But if you really want to help to save the world, come to the pub." - Richard Brass, writing in the Times​