Tory leader takes a break from his campaign trail in Chiswick

David Cameron enjoyed a pint of London Pride during his whistle stop tour of at Fuller's Brewery.

Accompanied by Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Brentford and Isleworth, Mary Macleod, the pair met with Fuller’s Board members for an informal discussion before being taken on a tour of the brewery followed by a question and answer session with employees.

Cameron used the visit to repeat his party's plans to tackle binge-drinking. He also expressed his delight that the ten per cent increase on duty on all cider had been defeated and showed a indepth knowledge of the drink.

“We do need to tax some of the problem drinks, and I would say if you look at some of the really high strength, super-strength ciders and lagers – things like White Lightning, which you can buy, you know three litres for sort of 3.99," he said, "I’m sounding a bit expert on this in a worrying way – but that stuff has never been near an apple, it’s not cider, it’s just something that people use to get off their heads. And I think we should tax that more aggressively.”

Whilst Cameron was on the campaign trail, Fuller's management team took their opportunity to discuss a number of issues including beer duty, which has risen 26% in 25 months, the massive over-regulation of the beer and pub industry and the future of the beer tie.

Richard Fuller, a Director at Fuller’s, said, “We were delighted to have the opportunity to speak with David Cameron directly about his party’s plans should they come into power on May 6. His visit created quite a stir at the brewery and the members of staff he met were very impressed with his knowledge of our company and our industry.

“We hope that whoever forms the next government will take a serious look at the damage that recent policies have done and will make real changes to help preserve the iconic British pub industry which employs 540,000 people directly and a further 380,000 through associated trades.”

April 14, 2010