Green council sparks fury after calling for ale and cider festival to be CANCELLED because it 'should not support alcohol'

Bristol City Council has sparked fury after calling for an ale and cider festival to be cancelled because it "should not support alcohol".

Heather Mack, the Green deputy leader of Bristol Council, said the festival, run by the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), would not align with the authority's ethics policy.

The annual festival, run by the Bristol branch of Camra, has been hosted in City Hall for a number of years, despite being cancelled last year.

It was postponed after the council contracted out the management of some of its venues, which brought about an increased hiring cost.

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Speaking at a strategy and resources policy committee Ms Mack suggested the festival's discounted offering was at odds with the council's policy on alcohol promotion.

She said: "We have an advertising and sponsorship policy where, as a council, we should not support alcohol. So that then becomes quite challenging if you’re arguing that we should be promoting and sponsoring [the festival].

"I know that the beer festival was previously hosted here, but it doesn’t actually in-keep with our ethical advertising and sponsorship (policy) if we were to be giving a discount to that sort of event."

Camra was not the only group to be impacted by the council's new venue hiring costs – Bristol's Choral Society, who perform across the country, were also impacted by City Hall's increased prices.

The society's future was put into question when Restaurants Associates, a corporate events company, said renting the rehearsal space for the group at City Hall would cost £2,600 a week.

This is an 812.5 per cent increase in cost, which was previously £320, The Times reports.

It is not clear whether Camra will find an alternative venue to host their festival, which boasts approximately 70 real ales as well as 30 ciders and perries.

David Martin, the council’s head of corporate landlord, said: "There were some early teething problems with the contractual arrangements, and we’ve learnt from the mistakes that were made earlier on.

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"But what we did do was go back and give them a price that was fitting with the previous time, but they didn’t want to take it up, unfortunately."

Despite Bristol City's Green councillor pushing back on an ale festival, the party overall has been criticised for its relaxed view on drugs.

The party supports legalising currently illegal substances, including cannabis, which would be available over-the-counter for adults, and heroin, to be available via prescription-only under medical supervision.

It states explicitly alcohol is "widely considered more dangerous than many illegal substances".

Zack Polanski's party would back heavy investment in drug education to allow people to make "informed, responsible choices".

He said last year the "war on drugs has absolutely failed, and ultimately we need to be having a public health approach."

However, the party's national drug policy appears to hinge upon education rather than prohibition, but if Bristol City Council pushes back on the festival, it could appear they are cracking down on alcohol – a legal substance.

The party said young people are drinking less "largely due to better education about health risks".

GB News has reached out to Bristol City Council and Camra for comment.

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