Amidst the cash for access furore several things stand out. Firstly the amounts involved, although large for those with little money, are quite small compared to the amounts sloshing around in the 14 Tory years of Old Corruption. The point is that Labour presented itself as different to that not just a small mini-me version of it.
Secondly it is focused on Labour MPs, not just because Labour is in Government but because the Tories have 121 MPs, the lowest number since 1832.
That said the Sunday Times (6th October) has revealed some small but interesting donations from ABInBev via Camden (which they own) to Labour MPs.
It gave four Labour MPs £10,000 for a fundraising event before the Election. It also gave Leeds MP Alex Sobel three tickets for the British Beer and Pub Association’s annual dinner valued at £990.
Small beer certainly but it might be reflected that historically brewers could rely on the Beerage- brewers who sat as Tory MPs.
Why Global Big Beer is interested in any way with what happens in the UK market is another matter. Certainly Rachel Reeves admiration for the first Labour Chancellor Philip Snowden in 1924 (who was a temperance campaigner)may see a Budget that is not helpful to a struggling hospitality industry. But Big Beer has many other markets to make profits in aside from the UK..
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