Early Morning Jim Dowd

[Paddy Pantsdown]

Our local MP loves me so much he put me on his emailing list. Today I was the lucky recipient of his list of his Early Day Motions (now lets keep this decent!). While I can not be described as Jim's greatest fan I was pleasantly surprised by the sometimes radical and challenging motions he has attached his name too - not just the safe ones. Judge for yourself, the list is here:

http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMByMem ... ESSION=891

Those going to the Woodman tonight might be pleased to see this one included:

"That this House supports the Campaign for Real Ale's Community Pubs Week from 16th to 23rd February 2008; believes that community pubs play a hugely important function in the communities they serve; further believes that community pubs, as places to meet others in the community, provide an environment in which people can and do enjoy alcohol responsibly and therefore have a very important role in producing an appropriate culture for people to drink in, indeed that if there were more emphasis on this genuine pub culture, there would not be many of the problems associated with excessive drinking; further believes that community pubs, whether in urban, suburban or rural areas, are part of the heritage of the United Kingdom and must be preserved; notes with concern and regret that 56 community pubs a month are closing and that action must be taken to address this, including addressing the issue of some pub companies charging unreasonable rents; and believes that legislation should be introduced to make it much more difficult to close pubs against the wishes of local communities and to end the right to demolish or convert pubs without planning permission."

PP