Cullingworth nestles in Yorkshire's wonderful South Pennines and I have the pleasure and delight to be the village's Conservative Councillor. But these are my views - on politics, food, beer and the stupidity of those who want to tell me what to think or do. And a little on mushrooms.

Thursday, 15 March 2012

Giving pubs grants isn't the answer...

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Noted pseudo-liberal Tim Farron has clambered onto the "Save Our Pubs" bandwagon - anything for a vote or two! But, while he backs freezing beer duty and supporting (in some unspecified way) brewers, he also thinks that the County Council should hand out grants to pubs to "take on community facilities"

"It is important that we work hard to save our local pubs. I think that there a few simple steps we can do to really help these community assets. We need to freeze the beer tax, support our brewers and give small grants to pubs to house community facilities. By giving community pubs a small grant, we can help rural pubs diversify and bring back vital community services. I want to see the County Council back this scheme and commit to supporting rural areas."

Pubs are businesses not "community assets" and promising a few grants will go no way to addressing the disaster visited on pubs by Tim Farron and other MPs - the smoking ban.

Oh, anything but the truth, ignore the destructiveness of that ban at all costs - better to throw some money at it in a highly visible public manner by way of grants for perceived good works that further transform a pub into a government charity with no private rights of the owner's own and hope the public never catches on about the avoidance of truth issue nor the further deterioration of private business stock transformed into public charity for the good of all, or maybe good of the politicians who continue to play the avoidance of truth game.