Beer has long played an important part in Kent’s history.

Ever since the days of Chaucer, in whose Canterbury Tales beer features prominently, hops, brewing and pubs have been central to the county’s culture and identity.

Now, some of the county’s biggest brewers say that Kent’s pubs are under threat.

Crunch time

As with many industries, the economic downturn has had an impact, and there is little doubt that the country’s pubs are going through a tough time.

According to the British Beer and Pub Association, during the third quarter of 2008, beer sales in pubs fell by 8.1%.

That adds up to 1.1m fewer pints of beer sold in pubs every day.

In Kent, the impact seems to be particularly harsh.

The Campaign for Real Ale’s figures suggest that pub closures have more than quadrupled in the county since 2005.

Brewers challenged

Two of the county’s biggest brewers say that proposed new government regulations, including fewer happy hours, stricter retail guidelines and limits on drinks promotions, could combine with increased duty on beer to have a devastating impact on their trade.

To assess the scale of the challenge facing Kent’s pubs, our reporter Helen Drew went to Faversham to speak to the chief executive of Shepherd Neame, Kent’s biggest brewer and, they say, Britain’s oldest brewery.

They have had something of a tough time recently, sales are down by 2.7% on 2007 and their Chief Executive, Jonathan Neame, says that this is the toughest year that the industry can remember.

Jonathan is worried that the new regulations will increase costs on responsible operators at a time when they can ill afford it.

The Conservative MP for Faversham Hugh Robertson agrees, warning that any measures which cause pubs to close is also bad news for the communities they serve.

What do you think?

On Sunday, the British Medical Association’s head of science and ethics, Dr Vivienne Nathanson – who is a supporter of the new regulations – and Robert Wicks, who is the owner of the Westerham Brewery, Kent’s second largest brewery and a director of the Society of Independent Brewers, will debate the issue live in the studio.

If you feel strongly about the issue, do get in touch with us at politicsshowsoutheast@bbc.co.uk and we will feed your comments into the discussion.

And… Later in the show

We are joined by the Transport Minister Paul Clark, who is also the Labour MP for Gillingham and Rainham.

We ask why the region needs the ‘South East Economic Delivery Council’, a new body whose creation was announced this week by the Minister for the South East Jonathan Shaw.

The Chairman of Shepherd Neame, Miles Templeman (who is also the Director-General of the Institute of Directors) told us that the new body risks duplicating work which the South East’s Regional Development Agency should already be doing, a point we will be putting to the Minister.

Watch the Politics Show on BBC One at 12:00 GMT on Sunday. Click here for BBC Politics Show

Taken from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/7693141.stm

By: David Mills
The Politics Show
South East