MP becomes Barman

Last Friday, I managed to watch most of those emotions take place in the space of just two short hours when my local MP, James Paice, arrived to do a stint behind the bar.

Explaining that he had pulled a pint before, but that he hadn’t actually worked in a pub or bar, Mr Paice set about getting to grips with the idea of pouring bitter and working my make-shift epos system, before settling down to chat with the locals and turning his hand to waitressing.

Very good he was at it, too.

In fact, the two hours rushed by as the MP for South East Cambridgeshire very quickly began to look too comfortable doing my job and entered in to banter with the chaps around the bar, even putting forward his thoughts into a round-the-bar chat as to who should be in a list of Top Ten Greatest Britons.

Constituents also took the opportunity to pop in and grab a few minutes friendly chat in private before Mr Paice had to pop down in to the cellar to have a look at some of the behind-the-scenes work we publicans have to get up to.

The visit came off the back of an initiative by the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, which aims to get MPs in to pubs to see what difficulties we’re facing each day, and it was great to be able to chat with Mr Paice over the day-to-day difficulties my pub encounters, and in the comfort of my environment rather than that of an MP surgery.

We discussed beer duty and the alcohol escalator, cheap booze from supermarkets, the beer tie, Brulines, bureaucracy & red tape and the rising costs of fuel and utilities that continue to chip away at eroding margins.

I hope that Jim – obviously, I’m on first name terms with the Agricultural Minister these days – got as much out of the visit as my customers and I did and, as was observed as he delivered plates of food with a flourish and an offer of “anything else?”, if it ever goes wrong in Government he’ll make a great Publican…

This Morning​

Obviously, when you write things that appear online, whether it be a blog, a tweet or a comment on a news website, you have to be prepared for such statements to be picked up and used elsewhere.

I was, therefore, amused that a tweet I wrote on Monday that said “oh my, how daytime TV has changed… Phil Schofield and Holly Willoughby discussing marital aids and sex positions for the over-sixties on This Morning”​ got picked up by both the Daily Mail and The Sun and used in their articles decrying ITV’s choice of morning TV material.

The articles, however, had me down as horrified and shocked by the content. I’ll admit I was surprised, but horrified? No. Angry? Not a bit. I was actually wetting myself with laughter – the content may be questionable for that time of day, but I’ve got to say well done to ITV for brightening up my morning.