MPs will have to fork out a lot more in their taxpayer-subsidised bars in the Houses of Parliament when they return to work tomorrow (Monday). They will have to pay 70p extra for a pint of Becks - from £2.20 to £2.90 - 65p more for Stella - from £2.40 to £3.05 - and 35p more for a pint of bitter. The rises follow a pledge by Commons bosses to slash budgets by £12m to £219m as part of wider government spending cuts. - Sunday Mirror
JD Wetherspoon is poised to burst through £1bn in sales this week when the group will also confirm it is looking to take the brand to the Orkneys. Company spokesman Eddie Gershon confirmed Wetherspoon had identified a site in what would be its first foray into the Orkneys - if it gets planning permission. "We have identified a site in the Orkney Islands and would love to open a pub there. We believe that our style of pub will appeal to the people living there as well as holidaymakers," he said. - Scotsman
"Given that it's as cheap as chips to get drunk, one has, regretfully, to consider whether putting the price up may reduce our consumption…Opponents have argued this amounts to a disproportionate tax on the poor, but research from Aberdeen University shows that people from all income groups buy similar amounts of cheap alcohol. Dr John Foster, from the Alcohol Education and Research Council, says that such a tax would only really hit people who drink strong beers (and cider drinkers)…To those who still say it is tough on poorer people, he argues that everyone has to pay the price for alcohol, be it through extra policing or the demands on the health service." - Louise Dillner, writing in the Observer
Stornoway, the capital of the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, will this week introduce tough new by-laws aimed at tightening up existing regulations covering the consumption of alcohol. The new rules make it a breach of the law to be in possession of an opened can or bottle of booze in public. The Western Isles have more alcohol-related deaths than the Scottish average. However for some residents longer pub opening hours and the introduction of CCTV cameras means there is less trouble in town centres across the region - which is the most monitored in the country with 8.3 council-controlled cameras for every 1,000 people. - The Herald
Secret plans for the Pope's visit to Britain were left in a pub by event organisers who had lunch there. The five-page document, found by the manager of the Moorings bar and grill in Leamington Spa, in Warwickshire, gives detailed information about the Pope's movements during one of the biggest events of his four-day trip later this month. It even shows where his car will be parked. And it also reveals exactly where VIPs - expected to include former PM Tony Blair - will be sitting when the Pope conducts an open-air Mass. - Sunday Mirror