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| Gordon Brown appoints a Minister for Pubs |
EXCLUSIVE
BEER-loving politician John Healey has landed his dream job in government - Minister for PUBS.
He has been given a vital new role of supporting at-risk boozers which are a hub of their community.
Mr Healey, 49, will attend Cabinet and head a task force of five ministers.
His mission is to protect Britain’s 53,000 pubs survive the recession by by becoming centres of the villages and neighbourhoods they serve.
About 40 pubs are closing every week as the recession takes its toll - costing the Treasury £250 million a year in lost tax revenue this year.
Mr Healey is relishing his new job and wants to hold his next round-table talks on the future of the drinks industry in a pub.He is expected to deliver business tax breaks and relax planning laws to allow pubs to provide extra services.
He will also consider giving tenants the right to buy closure-threatened pubs from big breweries and make it harder to demolishlong-established pubs to make way for office blocks.
Premier Gordon Brown has ordered Mr Healey to champion pubs as hubs of their community, in addition to his role as housing and planning minister.
A government source said: “John is the perfect man for this job. He much prefers a pint of bitter to a glass of claret.
“There are very few people in the Cabinet you could imagine in a pub on any day of the week.
“But you can just picture John at the bar with a pint in one hand, a packet of pork scratchings in the other and darts in his top pocket.
“This makes him the perfect person to make this position meaningful and not just a gimmick.”
Mr Healey, who describes himself as a “beer man” - was thrilled by the new appointment.
He said: “Pubs are often at the heart of village life, and are important meeting places for many people.”
Mr Healey and his team will meet for the first time tomorrow (mon) to draw up their first pub survival blueprint.
A record 2,365 pubs closed their doors last year and the industry fears there is more to come.
They will be urging their new champion to pile pressure on Chancellor Alistair Darling to spare them another above inflation rise in beer tax in the next Budget.
Brigid Simmons, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “The UK may be heading out of ression, but times remain very tough for pubs.”
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