Welsh Assembly now gives grants to convert pubs to restaurants

Not content with dishing out £250,000 of our money to fake charity Alcohol Concern, the Welsh Assembly has now given a grant of £172,800 to a Mr Mafiz Ali to convert the former Old Rising Sun/Harlequin pub into an Indian restaurant. Just what we need in Newport, another restaurant! The City is full of third-rate Indian restaurants at the moment with hardly any customers, chucking this money at a new venture will do nothing to improve Newport. Still at least the local populations of stray cats and dogs are kept in order!
The Old Rising Sun was sold by Admiral Taverns in 2006 for £300,000 and closed shortly afterwards with the usual 'suspicious fire' taking place. Amazing that so many Newport pubs somehow catch fire just after they close! The spontaneous combustion of recently closed public houses is a fascinating subject which the local police should really take more interest in rather than harrassing innocent citizens.
The Welsh Assembly and their Assembly Beer Group do claim to support our breweries and pubs but with money being thrown at projects such as this you have to wonder where our politicians truly stand?

Lets see some Assembly money being put into supporting our pubs, not encouraging their destruction.

H/T to the South Wales Argus for this story, though they seem to have missed the bit about the Assembly wasting our money

Welsh Assembly to help pubs

Today in the Welsh Assembly the first formal meeting of the Cross-Party Welsh Assembly Beer and Pub Group takes place. An informal meeting was held earlier in the year to gauge support for the pub and drinks industry in the Assembly and the subjects for discussion today include tax and regulation to the beer tie and responsible retailing. Other subjects on the agenda include career paths in the pub sector, responsible selling of alcohol and the plans in Scotland, and promoting locally-sourced produce.

All 60 Welsh Assembly Members have been invited to the meeting. Speakers will include Enterprise licensee Phil Jones of Fair Pint, who secured a temporary 38% rent cut after a long-running dispute. He’ll discuss “the pros and cons of pubcos”.

Justin Grant, of the Breconshire Brewery, who chairs the Association of Welsh Independent Brewers, is due at the meeting, alongside representatives of larger brewers SABMiller, SA Brains and Coors.

The British Beer & Pub Association and Fake Charity Alcohol Concern are also due to attend. Alcohol Concern have a vested interest in appearing as according to 2007/8 figures 57% of their income came from the taxpayer. No doubt Don Shenker, Chief Executive of the Government-funded fake charity will be trying to get some funding from the Welsh Assembly Government at the meeting today for his new fake charity, Alcohol Concern Cymru.
Some information regarding the fake charity Alcohol Concern:
"Alcohol Concern supports banning happy hour, raising the price of alcohol, lowering the drink drive limit, banning glass bottles in pubs, warning labels on cans and bottles and banning TV advertising before 9pm. It described the ban on happy hour promotions as "a step in the right direction" and the introduction of cigarette-style warning labels on bottles as "a very good first step".
Basically they epitomise the nanny state along with everything that is wrong about this country today and would not exist if their Government-funding dried up.

Nine AMs are currently members of the Cross-Party Welsh Assembly Beer and Pub Group, which was formed in June. It is chaired jointly by Nicholas Bourne, leader of Welsh Conservatives in the National Assembly, and Labour AM Jeff Cuthbert.


Below: Welsh Assembly members Jeff Cuthbert and Nick Bourne met earlier this year with CAMRA members, brewers and some skinhead wearing a Felinfoel Brewery tie

From Brew Wales

Beer Group launched in Welsh Assembly

Pictured Above, Left to Right: Ian Hill (Cardiff CAMRA), Jeff Cuthbert AM (Caerphilly), Nick Bourne AM (Mid and West Wales), Justin Grant (AWIB and Breconshire Brewery), Arfur (Brew Wales)

Members of the Welsh Assembly have come together in their love of real ale and pubs to form a cross-party group. The Welsh Assembly Beer and Pub Group is jointly chaired by Jeff Cuthbert AM (Caerphilly) and Nick Bourne AM (Mid and West Wales) and has members of all political parties represented in the Assembly.

The Group has been established in order to: "To promote the wholesomeness and enjoyment of beer and the unique role of the pub in Welsh society; to increase understanding of the social, cultural and historic role of brewing and pubs in Wales, and their value to tourism; to broaden recognition of the contribution of brewing and pubs to employment and to Wales’ economy; to promote understanding of the social responsibility exercised by the brewing and pub industries; to support Wales’ brewing industry worldwide, and to promote a positive future for beer and the pub.

The first meeting was held in the Assembly building last week and was well attended by brewers, CAMRA members and of course by Assembly Members. Real ales from Breconshire, Otley and Purple Moose were enjoyed by all present before a decamp to the Terra Nova (though some headed to the Eli Jenkins) to support real ales from SA Brain. Other Assembly members present were Alun Cairns AM, Nick Ramsey AM, Mick Bates AM, Andrew RT Davies AM and Mark Isherwood AM.

It was Mark Isherwood AM who asked a question in the Senedd a few years ago as to the lack of Welsh breweries in the members bar of at the Assembly, only to be told by the Minister responsible that the Assembly does not have a bar, it is a tea room that serves alcohol! The situation is now different and the “Tea Room” now serves Welsh produce. The Westminster Parliament has around 17 bars and restaurants with names such as Annies, Strangers, Press, Churchill etc and operate without a license (it is a royal palace after all). Is it not about time to rename the Assembly Tea Room after a prominent Welsh person, perhaps the Lloyd George bar after the teetotal former Prime Minister? Or in the least how about "Rhodri's"?

The Chair of AWIB, the Association of Welsh Independent Brewers, Justin Grant set a challenge to AMs present to encourage them to order beer from their own constituencies at official functions. Well we wait with interest to see what happens with that one.

This is the second time a beer group has been set up in the Assembly, the previous one a few years ago was set up by now former AMs Brian Hancock and David Davies and was once infamous for causing a plenary session of the Welsh Assembly to be disbanded by the Presiding Officer due to the “emotional state of members” after a lunchtime lobbying by brewers. Hardly a Bacchanalian Orgy but perhaps the closest the Assembly has ever got to one. Brew Wales has attended all these lobbying sessions and can confirm that the real ales that were consumed at these events were very good.

Assembly Members were also present at the Great Welsh Beer & Cider Festival last week, where they were invited to pour a beer from their constituency and Nick Bourne AM, Jeff Cuthbert AM and Andrew RT Davies AM all pulled pints from breweries in their constituencies.

Above: Jeff Cuthbert AM supports his local brewery, Celt Experience with a pint

Above: Andrew RT Davies AM pulls some award-winning Otley O1