Pubcos Power to be Curbed

Ministers face Commons defeat over reform of pub business as MPs call for statutory code of practice in an industry that is losing 20 pubs a month

The Guardian reports that ministers are being accused of naivety, if not outright collusion, in their dealings with pub companies, as the government faces the prospect of an embarrassing defeat this week over its relations with the big pub operators.

An all-party move to condemn the government's handling of relations between pub companies and tied landlords will be put to a vote on Thursday. The motion attacks business department proposals to reform the pub industry and calls for a statutory code of practice and an industry adjudicator. The government favours making the industry's own codes of practice legally binding.

It comes at a time when pubs continue to close at a rate of more than 20 a month. Critics have claimed the government's stance puts the interests of big corporations ahead of local communities. Conservative MP Brian Binley said the government had "sold its soul to the devil" by refusing to introduce a statutory code that would give landlords an option to free themselves from brewers. Nearly 29,000 of the 55,000 pubs in Britain are tied.