Petition launched to keep Brown Ale on Tyneside

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 25th Oct 2009

Neil and local campaigners at the Dunston brewery

LIBERAL Democrats in Blaydon constituency have launched a petition to Scottish and Newcastle in a bid to get the company to keep Brown Ale production on Tyneside.

Members agreed to launch the petition when they discussed the brewery's plans at their meeting held in Ryton on Saturday 24th October.

"Newcastle Brown Ale is as much an emblem of Tyneside as the Eiffel Tower is of Paris," said Neil Bradbury, Parliamentary Spokesman for Blaydon. "We cannot stand by and see the production of it moved from Dunston to Tadcaster.

"I feel that the move will damage the local economy, cost jobs and damage the public perception of Brown Ale. Had Scottish and Newcastle still been an independent company, I believe they would have had a much greater commitment to Tyneside.

"But the purchase of the company last year by Heineken and Carlsberg has, I believe turned S&N from a business with a commitment to our area into something that is just a subsidiary of a gigantic international consortium.

"We are therefore launching the petition so that local residents can press S&N to show their commitment to our area and keep brewing Brown Ale here."

The petition is in the Liberal Democrats' local newsletter, Focus, which is being delivered to thousands of houses in the Dunston area.LIBERAL Democrats in Blaydon constituency have launched a petition to Scottish and Newcastle in a bid to get the company to keep Brown Ale production on Tyneside.

Members agreed to launch the petition when they discussed the brewery's plans at their meeting held in Ryton on Saturday 24th October.

"Newcastle Brown Ale is as much an emblem of Tyneside as the Eiffel Tower is of Paris," said Neil Bradbury, Parliamentary Spokesman for Blaydon. "We cannot stand by and see the production of it moved from Dunston to Tadcaster.

"I feel that the move will damage the local economy, cost jobs and damage the public perception of Brown Ale. Had Scottish and Newcastle still been an independent company, I believe they would have had a much greater commitment to Tyneside.

"But the purchase of the company last year by Heineken and Carlsberg has, I believe turned S&N from a business with a commitment to our area into something that is just a subsidiary of a gigantic international consortium.

"We are therefore launching the petition so that local residents can press S&N to show their commitment to our area and keep brewing Brown Ale here."

The petition is in the Liberal Democrats' local newsletter, Focus, which is being delivered to thousands of houses in the Dunston area.