Lembit Opik backs British Pub Week

The outspoken ex-politician told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser that the Government has a “moral responsibility” to support Britain’s locals by endorsing the recommendations put forward by the Business, Innovation & Skills Committee (BISC) in its report on pubco-tenant relationships, published last week.

Opik, who sat on the Business and Enterprise Committee during the initial hearings, said: “I am 200% behind British Pub Week — nobody should have to live on the breadline when they have a turnover of £100,000 a year.

“It is crazy that some people who work in the industry have to get a second job.

“We have to get the Government to support the report of the BISC and give businesses a fair chance.

“Pubs are more than places to go and drink, they are the focus of an entire community. To lose the pub is to lose the village.

“It is an avoidable situation and British Pub Week is the beginning of the fightback.

“It is organised by strategists within the industry who have been there, at the tills and in the pubs.

“They are giving a voice to their concerns and the message is simple: if the Government does not deliver we will shout loud enough until it does so.

“Supporting our local pubs is not a one-week affair, it is an all-round business, and the Government knows it has a moral responsibility to support them.”

Opik told the PMA he will be celebrating British Pub Week with a pint of IPA at the Three Stags in Kennington, south-east London.