Knighthood for former APPBG chairman

Alan Meale, the Labour MP for Mansfield and former chairman and founder of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, has been granted a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

He was granted the honour for "public and political services".

Meale, founded the group in 1993 and chaired it from 93 to 98 and again from the last General Election until two weeks ago when he stood down.

He was recently replaced by Andrew Griffiths, MP for Burton.

During his stint as Beer Group chairman, Meale put the issue of pub closures at the top of his agenda.

At the time of his appointment, he said: "We need to get more support for pubs themselves, and not just in rural communities, but in urban areas.

"The second thing is we have got to give every support to organisations such as the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) to promote beer, particularly among young people.

"Thirdly, we have to build up a very strong lobbying system with members of Parliament to take up issues before they are just 'bundled' on to beer drinkers."