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The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), alongside the Trading Standards Institute and a cross-party group of MPs, is calling for the Labour Government to carry out one of its original election manifesto pledges and introduce legislation to make sure that the pint you buy in a pub is 100% liquid

CAMRA needs all its members to urge their MPs to sign Early Day Motion (EDM) 404, expressing concern at plans to define a pint of beer as 95% liquid.

Will drinkers get what they pay for under Labour?

Confusion has surrounded whether the frothy head should be included in the price of a pint for over 40 years. The Weights & Measures Act 1979 included a provision allowing ministers to exclude the froth from the measured quantity of beer, but the provision was never enacted and was removed from the statute book in 1993. In Labour's original manifesto pledge they promised that 'drinkers will get what they pay for under Labour,' but the pledge was quietly dropped from their manifesto and it now seems that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is likely to bow to industry pressure and define a pint as no less than 95% liquid.

The situation is made worse by brim measure glasses. CAMRA and the Trading Standards Institute have called for the industry to introduce lined glasses to ensure that the customer always gets a pint. The trade has resisted this recommendation. Indeed, according to a National Audit Office report of March 2003, it seems that many pubs and bars sell more beer than they buy in, presumably because brim measures often lead to short measures.

Joan Walley, Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, has sponsored Early Day Motion 404, which expresses the concern that a 95% pint tolerance, together with the existing leeway applied by enforcement bodies when considering prosecution, could lead to consumers only getting around 92% of a pint. The motion calls for the defining of a pint of beer as 100% liquid. MPs can show their support for the campaign by signing the EDM.

Which MPs in the Watford & District Area have signed EDM 404?

Claire Ward, MP for Watford and a CAMRA member, has been supportive of our campaign. She cannot sign the EDM as she's a parliamentary private secretary but has made the Minister for Employment Relations & Consumer Affairs aware of her constituents' concerns and has asked for information regarding the progress of the DTI's consultations. Neither James Clappison MP (Con, Hertsmere) nor David Gauke MP (Con, South West Hertfordshire) has so far signed the early day motion.

If you think that a pint should mean a pint, and if you live in either the Hertsmere or South West Hertfordshire constituencies, please write to your MP, C/O House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA, urging them to sign the EDM and support CAMRA's campaign for an honest pint.

Honest Pint Links

CAMRA's Honest Pint Campaign

For more information on the full pints campaign

The Early Day Motion website

Look up EDM 404 and see if your MP has signed

Trading Standards Institute's call for a full pint

A press release with plenty of interesting information, including Dudley South MP Ian Pearson's call for lined glasses and the industry's resistance. Much of the information on this page comes from the Trading Standards Institute.

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The views expressed on this site are not necessarily those of the Campaign for Real Ale Limited. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information on this site is accurate and up to date, no responsibility for errors and omissions can be accepted.