Peter Prinsley
Main Page: Peter Prinsley (Labour - Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) Heritage Public Houses Bill
Peter Prinsley Excerpts(1 week, 1 day ago)
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Dr Peter Prinsley (Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) (Lab)
This has been a very interesting debate, which has been very long. Perhaps like many other hon. Members, I am beginning to feel the need for a beer.
First of all, I should like to thank the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) for bringing forward this very interesting debate. Members may notice that he is wearing a tie that is the same as mine—it is the tie for the APPG on beer. I would like to recommend that all Members present consider membership of the APPG, as I can see it is something in which we all have an interest. The APPG holds a marvellous dinner in the ballroom of the Institute of Civil Engineers once a year, which I have now been to twice. I should like to recommend it to all Members.
Anna Dixon
As a member of the APPG on beer, could my hon. Friend recommend his favourite beer?
Dr Prinsley
I will come to that in a moment. I certainly do have a favourite beer. [Interruption.] If you’ll allow me one moment—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. Do you need your phone and your papers?
Dr Prinsley
I have something written on my phone, which has been sent to me, that I would like to read.
Adam Jogee
While my hon. Friend thinks about the contribution he is about to make, the hon. Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) and I had the pleasure of visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency not that long ago. The sad thing is, we did not manage to visit a pub. If we had, which one should we have gone to?
Dr Prinsley
I am grateful for that question; I shall answer it.
In April 1911, The Bury and Norwich Post listed 79 hostelries in Bury. By 2019, there were only 21. Here is a little ditty about them:
“The ‘Three Kings’ joined in the sport and chased him round a ‘Wheatsheaf’ to the ‘Suffolk Hunt’ onto ‘Cupola House’ where the ‘Red Lion’ stopped their sport. Looking for more fun a ‘Swan’ was seen near the ‘Elephant and Castle’ looking for the ‘Market Tavern’ when the ‘Old Angel’ came along and led it astray to the ‘Rutland Arms’ and sent for the ‘Shepherd and Dog’ to convey it to the ‘Railway Tavern’ to be packed up with the ‘Saracen’s Head’ and sent as a present to the ‘Cricketers’ (who were having dinner at the ‘Dog and Partridge’).
On their way, the ‘Ram’ saw the ‘Half Moon’ in the ‘Nutshell’ and did a ‘Star’ performance amongst the old curiosities, knocking down ‘Three Horse Shoes’, exploding an old ‘Cannon’ and blowing off the ‘Kings Arms’ which were sent to the ‘Joiners Arms’ to be repaired; after which he went to the ‘New Inn’ for refreshments which made him a bit lively and getting all the ‘Taps’ to join him they went to the ‘Suffolk Shades’ to empty the ‘Gallon Can’ which they did to their sorrow for the police had to send them to ‘Ipswich (Arms)’ to get sober. They were last seen near the ‘Tollgate’ singing, we are all ‘Jolly Good Fellows’ and that’s that!”
I apologise for reading that out.
Adam Jogee
I really enjoyed that, but the one thing my hon. Friend did not do was answer the question I put to him before he performed, which was: where should the hon. Member for Melksham and Devizes and I have gone when we were in his constituency?
Dr Prinsley
My hon. Friend must have a moment more patience, for I am coming to that.
Pubs have been at the heart of life in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket for centuries. They are part of our history, our local economy and our communities, and my constituency has no shortage of remarkable stories to tell.
Greene King has brewed in Bury St Edmunds since 1799. Its Level Head beer has made it into the Strangers Bar. I feel that the Chancellor should be offered a pint before the Budget, for if ever there was a speech that required a level head, that is surely it.
But Greene King is not living on its history. Last year, I joined the company as work began on its new £40 million brewery at the Suffolk business park, which will be completed next spring. It will keep brewing in Bury St Edmunds, sustain local employment and make production more sustainable. Now, that is heritage and growth working together.
At the all-party parliamentary beer group dinner to which I referred, Mr Nick Mackenzie, the chief executive of Greene King, was sitting at my table and was given the Community Hero award for the actions that Greene King has taken in the community in Bury St Edmunds. It is a fantastic local business. I mentioned that to our former Prime Minister, who said that he would be content to come and open the brewery when it opens next spring. I said to him, “All we need to do now is organise a parliamentary piss-up in a brewery,” and he said, “What could possibly go wrong?”
Alex Ballinger
What a magnificent story! I just want to reflect on the community value that pubs and breweries can add, on top of their location and heritage. In my constituency, the Hunting Tree pub has recently been taken over by new owners, who are doing a fantastic job at bringing in families through activities in the garden, while raising money for Guide Dogs. Could my hon. Friend talk about other examples in his constituency of where the community has benefited not just by going to the pub, but through the activities of pubs and breweries?
Madam Deputy Speaker
Order. Before you get to your feet, Dr Prinsley, I remind you that you are speaking through the Chair. I must not be staring at your back.
Dr Prinsley
I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker.
It is well known that Charles Dickens stayed at the Angel hotel in 1835, and it later featured in “The Pickwick Papers”. He returned regularly to give readings next door. Two centuries on, guests can still stay in the very same room associated with his visits. Of course, most hoteliers would simply settle for a good online review.
The Masons Arms occupies a building dating back to the early 16th century. In Stowmarket, the Royal William, a traditional backstreet pub that was granted its licence only in the 1960s, serves real ale by gravity. There are plenty of things I would like to see modernised, but certainly not that.
I come to my favourite pub, the Nutshell. [Hon. Members: “Aha!”] It is listed in the “Guinness Book of Records” as the smallest pub in the country, at just 15 feet long by 7 feet wide, complete with a mummified cat. In 1984, an extraordinary 102 people and a dog called Blob reportedly squeezed inside. Any of us who struggle to find a seat at Prime Minister’s questions should count their blessings.
Stowmarket once had a pub called the Hop Pole Tavern, which had a railway siding running all the way through it. I support travelling to the pub by train, but that was taking integrated transport rather too literally.
I have already read out one of the ditties about Bury St Edmunds’ pubs, so I shall not tell the House another one, although there are several.
Anna Dixon
I thank my hon. Friend for addressing the question posed by our hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) about his favourite pub, but I am still waiting in suspense to learn what his favourite beer is. Could he please put me out of my misery?
Dr Prinsley
I will come to that—[Laughter.] But I want to make a more serious point.
As we know, sadly, many pubs have disappeared. I understand that we lost something like 7,000 pubs during the 14 years of Conservative rule, and we continue to lose them. Anyone who walks around our towns or drives through the country can see closed-down pubs, but habits have changed and laws have changed. Some of these laws are exceptionally good ideas. For instance, the law about drink-driving is an excellent idea and has saved thousands of lives. I recall my father, who was a physician, telling me years ago that if people were caught drink-driving following an accident when he was young, the fact that they were drunk was regarded as an excuse. Times have moved on considerably.
Linsey Farnsworth
Yesterday the Ripley fair was opened on the marketplace of Ripley by the mayor. It is the 775th fair. On the subject of drink-driving, several pubs are on that marketplace and I dare say that some people will be frequenting them before going on the dodgems. I wonder what my hon. Friend would have to say about that.
Dr Prinsley
I would say that it is probably a poor idea to fill oneself up with alcohol and then go on the dodgems. I think it would exacerbate the vestibular upset.
Matt Turmaine
My hon. Friend mentions that his father, too, was a physician. I wonder whether their opinions differ on whether more healthy benefits are to be derived from lager or bitter, based on their experience?
Dr Prinsley
Lager, in my time, was regarded as a sort of new-fangled drink that was drunk in other countries. In Yorkshire in those days very few people drank lager.
I also want to talk about the smoking ban—I did say I was going to have a serious section in my speech. One of the reasons why people have stopped going to pubs is because there is no smoking allowed in pubs. Stopping smoking is one of the best things we have done. The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026, which sets out that people will have to be older and older in order to buy cigarettes is, in my opinion, the single best thing that we have done. That single measure will save more lives than anything else we are likely to do in this Parliament. I applaud that, but I recognise that it has had consequences for pubs, where people would gather to drink beer, smoke and have good cheer.
Alex Ballinger
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the health benefit of the cigarette ban in pubs. I, too, welcome the Tobacco and Vapes Act and the measure to increase the age limit periodically so that people who are young today cannot smoke. Do you think that, because there has been such a reduction in number of people who are smoking, especially at a younger age, in due course it may become a benefit for pubs? The drag of no longer being allowed to smoke inside would no longer be a problem because people are not smoking.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. Before Dr Prinsley gets to his feet, I remind Members that there should be no “you” or “yours”, because they are speaking through the Chair.
Dr Prinsley
I simply think that the smoking ban is an utterly brilliant thing to do. I cannot predict what will happen to pubs as a result of it, but it has not been good for country pubs.
Before I conclude, I want to make one remark about the issue of supermarkets and the cost of beer in convenience stores. In the convenience store at the bottom of my street, it is less expensive to buy a slab of lager than to buy a slab of Coca-Cola. Something has gone seriously wrong with the pricing arrangements for beer. I see that Greene King has now discontinued its off-licence production and will now only sell beer in pubs. I would like very much to see something done within our tax system to make it much less attractive to buy alcohol in convenience stores and supermarkets.
Anna Dixon
I wonder whether my hon. Friend is aware of the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates’ campaign “Drop the Tap Tax”, which seeks to lower the alcohol duty on beer sold in pubs specifically via hand-pulls and keg taps. Would that be something that he would like to discuss with the Chancellor over a pint of Greene King, which is perhaps his favourite beer?
Dr Prinsley
I would very much like to speak to the Chancellor over a pint of beer about quite a number of things; perhaps that is something that I could request.
I simply cannot go on with this speech forever, but let me say that I welcome many aspects of the Bill. Its ambition to identify and protect heritage pubs is welcome, but a simple register will not pay the electricity bill. Protection must go hand in hand with helping pubs to adapt, remain accessible and, crucially, stay commercially viable. I want the next generation to know our pubs not only from old photographs, but from Sunday lunches, quiz nights and conversations with neighbours. They must not be left as empty buildings. We must keep them alive. Let us protect their history and give all our locals a future worth drinking to.