Repertoires of Contention. Petitions & the Small Brewers Duty Relief proposals (Sign!)
Petitions are part of the history of British democracy. Indeed before the mid-nineteenth century they were one of the few legal ways to push for changes from Parliament. Matters were governed by the 1661 Tumultuous Petitioning Act and subsequent legislation.
The great campaigns of the first half of the nineteenth century, the People’s Charter for the vote and the Anti-Corn Law League on bread prices focused centrally on petitions.
Few thought they were enough in themselves. They were part of what the historical sociologist Charles Tilly called a repertoire of contention.
The Chartists themselves tried general strikes and armed risings as well as petitions.
Neither of these are likely to be required in the campaign to get the Government to review its plans to change the Small Brewers Duty Relief in a way that will benefit larger regional to national brewers.
At the same time petitioning won’t be enough. I’m sure SIBA, CAMRA and others continue to lobby MPs. If the petition gets a decent number of signatures (100,000 is the benchmark set by Parliament) the lobbying will be more effective.
Of course these days lobbying and petitioning is often an on-line activity. However in person lobbying can be particularly effective (but don’t stand so close to me..).
The Parliamentary petition now has a map which allows you to see how many people in your Constituency have signed. If it’s a decent number then contacting your MP directly is always worth a try. Not all are receptive (or possibly even alive in some cases) but many are.
Direct action, also part of the repertoire of contention, has also been mentioned. In effect this means stunts which get media publicity. One might, for example, pour a pint of beer over Boris Johnson’s head. I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s been done several times and the response was ‘thank you for refreshing me’. But banner drops could be effective.
Likewise boycotts of those breweries who backed the changes. Of course people can do this individually but its collective organised boycotts that really impact. Here I remain sceptical because I’m not sure you’re going to get a Harvey’s Best or Taylor’s Landlord drinker to stop because a brewery that produces a beer they probably don’t drink is impacted by tax changes their brewery of choice supports. A few might do.
In the meantime sign the petition and encourage others to do so:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/334066
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