Read on Twitter
THREAD: 1/8 The Tied Pubs Bill is about fairness for tied pub tenants, more choice for consumers and action to protect jobs in the pub and brewing industries – more important now than ever before. It’s appalling that SNP & Tory MSPs on @SP_Economy want to vote it down
2/8 The majority of Committee evidence – including 93% of tenants taking part in a Committee survey – clearly support the Bill BUT only a minority of Committee members endorsed the Bill
3/8 It’s the wrong call. Taking no action means Scottish publicans continue to get an unfair deal and, unlike tied tenants in England and Wales, have no statutory protection at all.
4/8 The UK Government said last week they are prepared to consider strengthening regulation. That would further increase the regulatory gap between Scotland and England & Wales
5/8 SNP & Tory MPs voted FOR the Pubs Code in England and Wales. Yet their MSPs on the Committee are inexplicably AGAINST one in Scotland. They’re trusting multinational PubCos to regulate themselves here but not trusting evidence from local publicans being exploited.
6/8 Only a few weeks ago the Pubs Adjudicator for England & Wales fined Heineken-owned Star (a Scottish HQ’d company) £2 million for breaching the E&W Code. There is no regulator with that power in Scotland.
7/8 For context, Heineken made 4 billion Euros profit last year while some publicans continually struggle to make ends meet because they’re locked into unfair, restrictive deals. My Bill would help local pubs keep more of what they make
8/8 It's time now for @scotgov to make up their mind. They have to decide whose side they’re on: the big PubCos or Scotland’s publicans?
