JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has responded to the Morning Advertiser's appeal for a charter of important subjects around which the industry can unite. Here are his 12 principles.
1. We agree with Dr Johnson that "there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn". We believe that pubs are a key part of the British and Irish heritage, that they act as a valuable melting pot for society, and they should be preserved and supported by the Government.
2. We believe that the majority of people in Britain consider that "the pub is the hub", playing a central part in community life. Villages or areas of towns or cities without pubs are duller places to live in.
3. Pubs aren't perfect, but they provide a supervised drinking environment with a registered licence holder, trained staff and a variety of individuals and age groups. This is a better environment for drinking than many of the alternatives, including parks, beaches and parties.
4. Pubs are evolving and large numbers of customers do not consume alcoholic drinks on every, or sometimes, any, visit.
5. Many people prefer to use pubs for a family meal and consume soft drinks, coffee and tea. Pubs provide a different atmosphere, and often an historic setting, for dining as well as drinking.
6. The majority of parents permit their teenagers to consume alcohol, usually from the age of 15 or 16, and many prefer them to drink in the supervised atmosphere of pubs, since it is perceived to be a safer and more convivial environment than parties, parks or beaches. We do not advocate a reduction in the legal drinking age, but law makers, regulators and the justice system need to appreciate that underage drinking is a very sensitive area, and pubs cannot be made completely responsible for it, when it is clearly permitted by parents. Excessive penalties, which can close pubs down, are clearly counter-productive measures for the local community involved.
7. We believe that the future of pubs is seriously threatened by a constantly increasing burden of taxation and regulation that is extremely difficult for pubs to bear, and is driving customers away from pubs, so that increasing amounts of drinks are now purchased from supermarkets.
8. In particular, the Government now levies about 40% of the price of a pint in a pub as taxes of one sort or another, including VAT, excise duty, rates and employment taxes. This means that the tax per pint in the average pub is over £1, compared to tax of about half that amount from a pint purchased in a supermarket. We strongly believe that this huge difference in taxes between the on-trade and the off-trade is driving people away from pubs and propose that VAT for drinks and meals purchased in pubs is reduced to 5%. Similar measures have recently been adopted for restaurants in bars in France, and this has resulted in an increase in revenue for the French government.
9. Since pubs sell drinks at higher prices than supermarkets and off-licences the objective of organisations such as Alcohol Concern, of increasing the price per unit of alcohol, will be achieved if the trend towards off-sales is reversed. Encouraging people to use pubs also increases the amount of tax for the Government.
10. Pubs play a vital role in British and Irish social life, and are an extremely important part of our heritage. This country has lost many important businesses over the decades, and the pub business is now seriously threatened by a constant and unremitting barrage of taxation and regulation.
11. Contrary to popular opinion among legislators, licensees are the victims and not the beneficiaries of binge drinking and anti-social behaviour. By far the most profitable licensed premises are those which encourage and control good behaviour. However, licensees cannot achieve good behaviour on their own, and the best method of improving behaviour is enthusiastic adoption of Pubwatch, Best Bar None and other schemes by police, local authorities and licensees. Adoption of these schemes has resulted in great improvement in a wide variety of town and city centres throughout the land.
12. The police and other authorities have ample powers for dealing with pubs that do not obey the laws, or create a nuisance in their locality. A continued increase in the number and severity of laws aimed at licensees will seriously harm the economics of pubs, making it much more difficult to keep them open, but will not result in a decrease in anti-social behaviour since off-sales will increase.