Quote:
Originally Posted by RizzyKing
Parameters have been changed and the slew of places that have gotten alcohol selling licences in my town are certainly not pubs but i bet they are included in the figures. I always wanted a compromise so that all groups had a fair and equal choice and i still believe that is and was the best solution. End of the day come on figures coming out to support the ban were always going to happen and the bbc reporting them in anyway is also no surprise given how far up the backside of this government they are  . |
Well he gave and analysed the data. Dismissing it as the BBC being biased in favour of the government is not a valid counter-argument. It's the classic get out clause when anyone has statistical analysis they don't like; Say the figures are manipulated and the media is biased and move on.
There cannot have been that many new places applying for licences which are not pubs and did not have a licence before. Restaurants and others would have had licences before hand as well.
The main points of the article seem to be that some pubs are 'closing' when in actual fact they are changing classification. There is a reduction of drink-only pubs but there is an increase in 'pubs' serving food and drink. Finally he points forward evidence that pubs may be more popular than before. Presumably as they now double as a destination for food.
If anything the statistics seem to have been manipulated by the pro-smoking lobby to try and claim pubs are closing across the country when they are simply changing.