Cask Ale: Intangible Cultural Heritage
Debate between Jacob Collier and Tonia Antoniazzi(1 week, 6 days ago)
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Jacob Collier
I am sure that my hon. Friend, as the UK’s trade envoy to Japan, would be able to use UNESCO heritage status to strengthen the links we have with our Japanese friends, and I certainly agree with what he has said.
Intangible cultural heritage status was created for the purpose of preserving traditions and social practices, just as previous efforts at protecting heritage had done for artefacts and buildings, neglecting the fact that we can learn so much about who we are and how we got here through established traditions. Cask ale is one of those traditions in this country. The brewing and barrelling of cask ale is an art form requiring specialist knowledge and skills honed over decades and even centuries. It is science and engineering, and it is innovation. Once the ale is brewed and barrelled, further specialist knowledge is required by the publican to serve it. We all know what an off pint tastes like; there is real skill in handling these products.
Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)
As chair of the all-party parliamentary beer group, I was really pleased that my hon. Friend, in his role as chair of the pub group, came to visit my constituency of Gower. He realises that there are great challenges for the industry, especially in relation to the UNESCO heritage status that he is speaking about, which I think would be really valuable. Does he agree that there are wider problems in the industry and that we need to big up our communities and pubs and get people back into the pub and enjoying their community beer?