The House of Commons has held a much-needed backbench debate on the hospitality industry. The debate was lively, well attended and involved lots of MPs from the length and breadth of the UK. We were lucky to find four MPs from our branch area on the call paper. Grahame Morris, MP for Easington, Paul Howell, MP for Sedgefield, Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham and Mary Kelly Foy, MP for the City of Durham were due to speak.

CAMRA Durham have now had first meetings with the last 2 of the MPs representing constituencies within our Branch area.

The Branch met with Paul Howell, MP for Sedgefield on Friday 19th March 2021. This was the fifth in our series of meetings with local politicians. The discussion was wide-ranging, reflecting the concerns of the branch, as captured through our meetings, liaison with brewers and extensive contacts with members and publicans.

Before we tell you about this year's AGM we would just like to share a quick thought: 

The Branch has recently had a further 2 meetings with our local MPs to talk to them about the difficulties facing the pub, club and brewing industries.

The headline is that we have chosen not to hold a festival of our own in 2021, as we typically would, towards the end of the year. Instead, we plan to organise and support vigorously a celebration of real ale and real cider that is based in pubs and clubs. Over the coming months, as the practicalities become clearer, we shall link with publicans, brewers, and drinkers to decide the timing, format, and finer details of this.