It would be easy to dismiss this measure as something of a damp squib that didn’t add up to much, and nobody could be blamed for reacting that way. But instead it seems to have provoked paroxysms of rage amongst many who are still struggling to come to terms with the result of a democratic vote seven and a half years ago.
Nobody is going to be compelled to use these measures, despite the linked report saying “Pint-sized bottles of still and sparkling wine are to appear on shelves in the UK”, and all of the previous metric measures will be allowed. So it’s really hard to see what all the fuss is about.
Considering that most wine sold in Britain is imported, and the 750ml bottle is an international standard, it’s unlikely that most buyers will notice any change. However, there is a history of champagne being sold in pint bottles and, given that the UK is the largest consumer of it outside France, it’s possible that some suppliers might decide it is worth offering the smaller option.
While 750ml bottles are the accepted norm for wine, it has to be said that for many consumption occasions they’re inconveniently big, and the possibility of having smaller bottles in various sizes will give drinkers more flexibility. I wonder how much wine from 750ml bottles ends up either being poured down the sink or reluctantly glugged down on the basis of “I suppose I’d better drink this, then.”
It should also be noted that this is only a very modest extension of permitted sizes and stops well short of complete deregulation. Yet there are no restrictions at all on beer bottle and can sizes, which can come in a vast and sometimes confusing range of quantities, although they generally seem to settle down around particular norms. Nobody seems to raise much objection to that, though.
Further aneurysms were provoked by the news yesterday that Wetherspoon’s chairman Tim Martin was to receive a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List. Inevitably this news stuck in many people’s craws due to his vocal support for Brexit. This tweet, from a former editor of the Sun, unbelievably, really sums up the élite-level sneering:
However, regardless of his political views, he has created an extremely successful and popular pub business from scratch, often by going against conventional wisdom. He has taken an iconoclastic approach to how pubs should be run, and attracted many customers who never went to pubs before.Brexit was always pub politics… and so… arise Sir Wetherspoon… dealer to so many desperate active alcoholics… open not long after dawn… convener of despair… no matter how unwittingly… hoorah!… triple pints of wine all round… pic.twitter.com/641YcvsjLM
— David Yelland (@davidyelland) December 28, 2023
If he had held more mainstream establishment opinions it’s highly likely that he would have been knighted much sooner, but of course if he had simply followed the herd he probably wouldn’t have made such a success of his pub empire in the first place.
Please keep all comments well-mannered and relevant. Any generalised ant-Brexit tirades will be rejected.
Talking of hypocrisy how about this wanker in the Independent who doesn't mind Timbo being knighted because he's enjoyed his cheap drink and food for years.
ReplyDeleteBut now thinks he's " dangerously irresponsible " for holding a January sale which, heaven forbid, might enable others who don't have much money to enjoy a cheap pint.
The beer blogosphere is awash with these types of half-wits.
www.msn.com/en-gb/foodanddrink/news/voices-i-love-a-wetherspoons-but-its-1-99-a-pint-january-sale-is-depressing-and-irresponsible/ar-AA1mc9lw?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=47095566e9a64b988945a120d15bc0db&ei=33
I'm a lefty who voted Remain and am not really bothered either way about wine being sold in pint bottles or Tim Martin being given a knighthood. I suspect that might be the majority opinion given the far graver issues the country and world are facing at the moment.
ReplyDeleteEntirely agreed. All this outrage is a total waste of breath.
DeleteSimilarly lefty/remain. I disagree with Tim Martin's knighthood, but mostly because I disagree with the whole idea. I dislike him and his politics intensely, but have to recognise his contribution.
DeleteAppreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.
ReplyDeleteRecommendation of what?
DeleteThey didn't like losing did they?
ReplyDeleteOn Timbo. Much deserved. A successful business man that has created something most Britons of the none snobbish variety love. He pays his taxes here too. Most uncommon and welcome. I'm guessing he'd have to pay Rishi a bung if he wanted in on the Lords and a knighthood is what you get if you don't?
As for the pint of wine. I'm going to guess we will see it among some brands of champagne but little else. Most wine is of the regular commodity table variety and a UK specific size makes little sense.
But we are the 2nd biggest, after the US, importer of champagne and biggest consumer per head in the world.
Champagne tends to be drank in flutes where about 6 is got from a bottle. Flutes tend to be smaller in volume to the wine glasses most drink out of these days.
A pint rather than half bottle offers a little more for a sharing bottle for 2, with two flutes each rather than one and a half. There might be demand here for it and the UK is significant enough to bother to supply something different. Who knows?
As for the politics of it? A declining government trying to throw a bone at a set of former supporters leaving it in droves? Who cares? I guess we'll see more oddities of varying sorts as the government wheezes its last.
But I shall pour a pint of wine to toast Sir Timbo!
I ordered a half bottle of Sancerre in a restaurant in France and it was 50cl not the normal 37.5cl; odd but it already exists.
ReplyDeleteI think 50cl bottles of still wine were already permitted in the UK, but nobody sells them. Would be a more useful general size, tbh.
DeleteSome Marks and Spencers have them.
DeleteOn a local forum it's only been negative comments about the gong except now with a "Well I think it's a well deserved Knighthood if only for keeping all of the low lifes out of the pubs I like to drink in."
ReplyDeleteSpoons do seem to attract their fair share of snobbery, often from people who never actually use them. And in most towns you would find a far higher proportion of "undesirables" in certain other pubs than in Spoons.
DeleteIf the goalkeeper of the losing English women's soccer team can get a gong and the SPOTY award then a man who employs tens of thousands of people and provides enjoyment for millions more certainly deserves one.
ReplyDeleteFortunately not everyone awarded an honour is a loser.
Matthew Elliott, the real brains behind Vote Leave, gets a peerage.
Elliott was nominated for a peerage by Liz Truss - Britain's shortest serving Prime Minister. Not exactly a glowing endorsement, for the founder of the Conservative Friends of Russia group.
DeleteAh, the old Russkies bought Brexit bollocks.
DeleteThe other great thing about the Brexit win has been the years of gnashing and wailing from the Remoaning losers, cheerled by war criminal enabler Alastair Campbell and the Lilo Lil of Labour Carol Vorderman.
I feel your pain bro but you need to get over it.
Carol Vorderman???
DeleteYou must know Carol, Paul - the original good time that's been had by all. One of those celebrity Remoaners still convinced there's a way back into the EU. I call them the Hiroo Onodaists - named after the Japanese soldier hiding in the jungle for 29 years convinced the war wasn't over.
DeleteI mean so much of the doom-mongering was unwarranted. No recession. No devastation in the City. Those many multi-nationals who've changed their mind and reckon Blighty is not a bad old place to do business after all. More Unicorns ( £1billion+ start-ups ) and more Foreign Direct Investment than France and Germany combined. More people in work than ever before. We passed France in September as a manufacturing country and we now have the failing German economy in our sights.
But how has it really affected most people ? Hardly at all unless you own a second home in Europe ( boo hoo ).France has already begun to knock the 90-day rule on its head and Spain will follow.
And yourself ?
https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/75184/pdf/
Back in 2016 in your written ' evidence ' to a parliamentary committee you were rightly concerned about the effect Brexit might have on the company you worked for, Advanced Healthcare Ltd. You predicted all its manufacturing would be moved to Germany with 30 skilled workers losing their jobs if we left the single market. You also thought Brexit might stymie your own plans to move to Germany or Austria.
Our trade with the EU is up nearly 15% since the referendum.
Perhaps you could let us know how AHL is faring ? I see from a job advertisement last year AHL were looking for someone to join
'our expanding production team' ...
Professor, let me congratulate you on your investigative journalism. I’d forgotten about that submission to the parliamentary committee which you managed to unearth, but presumably, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act such documents are relatively easy to come by.
DeleteI won’t spend too long on my reply, especially as Mudgie requested no anti-Brexit tirades, but I can report that my company – AHL, is doing well, and the main difficulty we face at present is recruiting and hanging on to staff. We are not the only employer, or indeed sector in this position, and it does seem to come down to youngsters in particular, not wishing to perform manual work, when they could be sitting in front of a computer, writing software for the latest AI creations.
Now that things have “settled down” I feel a move of our operation to Germany, or elsewhere in Europe, is unlikely. AHL have over 30 years’ experience in the manufacture of dental materials, and the knowledge and skills involved with their production is not easily transferable. In addition, the company has considerable expertise in regulatory matters, so much so that we look after this important aspect for many of our customers, both at home as well as overseas.
One area of our business that has been impacted quite badly by us leaving the EU, is the physical export of products to our European customers. We now have a significant increase in paperwork, with customs declarations etc, now a necessary part of shipping items to Europe. By employing a customs clearance agent to handle this additional paperwork, we have reduced much of the burden, but such agencies are not cheap, and these extra costs have to come of the bottom line.
Had we remained in the single market and customs union, none of this would be necessary, and like many, I suspect the influence of the shadowy ERG faction in “persuading” the weak Prime Minister, Theresa May, to go along with this. Philip Hammond, May’s chancellor at the time, was blindsided by this unnecessary move, particularly as the EU had offered a deal that would have satisfied most parties involved in the process.
In deference to Mudgie, I won’t say anymore, and with an election pending some time in 2024, we shall have to see how things pan out.
The outrage is ridiculous, but then, so was the announcement. The pint of wine is something no-one has asked for, and I suspect no-one wants. It's distraction, nothing more.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember that Port was often drunk from pint pots, which would somewhat entangle my ricketty legs these days...
ReplyDeleteI use red wine for cooking, don't drink it due to heartburn issues, the tiny bottle is too small for a beef stew, and 750ml too large. I guess I could buy two tiny bottles but something in the middle will work fine for me.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 1st.
ReplyDeleteAll the annual jackasses in their Christmas jumpers have disappeared for another year.
The pub is finally quiet after its busiest Christmas season ever.
Two lovely pints of Woodforde's Wherry with the hardcore band of mid-week regulars.
My old dog stirs under the table and emits a fart of Christmas leftovers toxicity.
Normal service is resumed.
Thank God it's all over for another year.
I think what riles people the most is the twisting of the truth and rewriting of history - there was nothing to stop champagne being sold in measures of 568ml or any other measure prior to leaving the EU, as long as the metric measurements were also displayed.
ReplyDeleteNot true - you were only allowed to sell wine in bottles of certain sizes, which did not include 568ml.
Delete