Licensees talk Brexit: "If we leave I'll put on free beer for a day"

Janet Dooner of The Railway Tavern, Stratford, East London, voted for Britain to remain in the then EEC in 1975, but she’s finding it hard to make up her mind this time.

'Nervous'

“When we voted all those years go we didn’t realise all the rules and regulations would come from Brussels. It wasn’t portrayed to us that way,” she said.

“I’ve not got a clue what to do at the moment. I’m quite nervous that the pound took a bit of a tumble and what it might do to business. There’s a lot of uncertainty. And the problems in Europe with migration aren’t going to stop with an out vote.

 “But when I speak to customers a lot of them seem to be swayed towards going out.”

Free beer

Keith Bannister of Harley’s Bar, Staveley, Derbyshire, is in favour of Brexit.

He said: “If we leave the EU I will put free beer on for a day. I have always been a Eurosceptic. I think the EU has grown too much, too many countries are involved and it’s bad for us. People want us to stay in because we are a rich country.

“We pay too much, and our money could be better spent at home. I wouldn’t be worried about leaving at all. It isn’t good for us.”

'Stifled by regulations'

Steve Haslam of the Cutter Inn, Ely, Cambridgeshire, is happy to stay in, but would like to see changes.

He explained: “We are being stifled by EU regulations. I think we should stay in, but we need to redefine what it means. I don’t think David Cameron’s changes went far enough.”

“Ninety per cent of the reason people seem to want to leave is immigration, but a lot of businesses in our industry need those people in, they have a big part to play.

“The bigger industries seem to be saying it’ll be bad for trading if we go out, but I’m not sure it’ll have too much of an effect on our industry. We need to know more of the bigger picture, we aren’t being told enough. Will there be trade agreements in place?”

Red tape

Alan Vaughan of the Countryman Inn, Shipley, West Sussex, hopes that if Britain left the EU, there would be less regulations for small businesses.

He said: “If leaving the EU means less red tape it would be good for small businesses, but I suspect it would remain the same. There would have to be assurances that some would be removed.

“The detrimental amount of red tape we have to deal with is easier for big businesses. They’re in a position to be able to deal with it with large teams and financial backing. For small businesses it’s not as easy.

“I don’t think there is that much to worry about leaving the EU. The impact would be minimal.”

What do you think? Would Brexit be good for the industry? Email oli.gross@wrbm.com.