Greg Mulholland, the Lib Dem MP who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group, has slammed the sector’s leading trade body for refusing to debate the future of the pub industry.

During a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group yesterday, Mulholland challenged the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and the Independent Pub Confederation (IPC) to discuss how to progress the industry at a later date, and that while the IPC agreed, he said the BBPA had refused.

The MP slammed the BBPA for agreeing to take part in yesterday’s meeting on the proviso that IPC members were not present when it presented its case and that the meeting be closed to members of the press.

“It was disappointing that the BBPA won’t come before MPs and actually debate with the IPC how best the industry can move forward,” he said.

“It was notable that they insisted on IPC representatives not even being allowed to sit and listen to their presentation and on press not being allowed in the meeting.

“That is a strange way to convince both MPs and the public that they have serious proposals for where the trade should go from here,” he added.

Mulholland claimed it was “clear” the BBPA had no idea of how to take the pub industry forward, arguing that while the BPPA was talking about an industry-wide code “it hasn’t yet published one – and it doesn’t have the support of the industry with the majority of pub organisations not in favour of this approach”.

For the full article go to:  The Publican