What could be more Newcastle than a bottle of Newcastle Brown? These days, anything...
Going to the Dog
WORKERS, MAY 2008 ISSUE
If ever a commodity was associated with a particular region or city, surely Newcastle Brown Ale must have been it. The iconic blue star on the label glowed above the brewery next to St. James Park where it was also emblazoned on the Magpies' black and white shirts. Legends about the one-time potency of a bottle of "Dog" were exchanged across many a bar, along with suspicions about more feeble brews emanating from the South, Teesside for example.
Newcastle Brown Ale remains potent, but as a symbol these days. The brewery has been demolished to make way for another mall and more retail intoxication; while the Toon's struggle against relegation is epitomised by having Northern Rock on the shirt rather than the blue star. And "Newkie Brown" is now brewed and bottled not in Newcastle, but across the water in Dunston (not very South, but South none the less) and might be more properly known as Gateshead Brown.
In a globalised economy, though, what's in a name? Scottish and Newcastle, brewers of the brown ale, have other beers that have travelled somewhat farther. Kronenbourg 1664 is not as continental as it sounds, produced as it is by S&N in Reading, as is that quintessential antipodean tipple, Fosters. No need for corks on the hat in the Thames Valley unless global warming is really taking a hold. In which case the chilled lager drawn to slake the thirst will, in this case, be English, whatever it suggests on the tin.
Takeover time
Not for much longer, however, certainly from 2010 as the Reading plant closes with the loss of 362 jobs. Indeed, although some of the production is to move to Dunston, along with other sites such as Tadcaster and the Royal Brewery Manchester, it won't be S&N brewing any of them, not even Brown Ale. Carlsberg and Heineken are carrying out a joint takeover worth £7.8 billion with Scottish and Newcastle being broken up between them. Good news for the "old Dog" maybe as it could secure the future of the Dunston brewery.
St James's Park, home of Newcastle United: "Whether NUFC players run around with blue stars on their chests or the name of a failing bank is a purely commercial decision." Nick Brown, Minister for the North East, wrote to the new management emphasising the importance of the Brown brand (it's presumed he was referring to the ale and not himself or the prime minister) to the Newcastle region. "I am delighted that they have accepted this," he is quoted as saying, "...the latest shake-up is very good news for the North East." His sentiments received support from Jim Cousins, MP for Newcastle Central. "This appears to mean that Newcastle Brown Ale will continue to be brewed on Tyneside for the foreseeable future." And Dave Anderson, Blaydon MP, joined in with, "The brewery is a significant employer in our area..." He also took this was an indication of intention for North Eastern brewing.
Nick Brown may well be "delighted" but there must be 362 employees and their families in Reading who are rather less so at the prospect. Brother Brown might take a somewhat different view if his role in serving the capitalist state wasn't quite so parochial. Divide and rule is a venerable principle, but it does not require any dark conspiracy to implement. It is in the nature of capitalism as this example shows.
All that has occurred involving the take over of S&N is normal, above board business practice. It is not a decision made out of spite, neither some dislike of the workers of Reading nor any regard for North Eastern tradition other than as a marketing tool. Yet by such instruments is worker pitted against worker, at least by immediate interest.
Even the union is divided by it. Unite, the union representing the 3000 S&N workers announced it was outraged by the closure and claimed no business case for it had been made by the company. However, the North East regional officer of Unite is quoted as saying, "The announcement looks good for Dunston..." and goes on to comment that it will mean more jobs.
He also points out this will be to the detriment of Berkshire colleagues. Somehow "colleague" sounds less committed than "comrade". If Unite want a business case then that is simply supplied. Stephen Glancey, S&N's group operations director pointed out it would save the company £13 million a year, i.e. an extra £13 million profit per annum for the balance sheet.
There is no requirement for any of the Labour MPs quoted here to be disingenuous or actively moving against the working class. Indeed Jim Cousins stated, "...we must keep a close eye on what the new owners do"; after all, if Fosters can be brewed in Reading, and then Dunston, why not Timbuktu, Trinidad or Toronto if another £13 million could be saved? Or move the production of Brown Ale to Australia – after all there's a Newcastle there to secure the brand.
The irrelevance of region
The Labour government is keen to regionalise and tried to sell the North East Assembly as a governing forum that could protect local interests. In this case North Eastern interests have been enhanced through a business decision sanctioned by a Danish and a Dutch company and those companies could just as easily take away those interests.
A regional assembly, or its absence, is irrelevant. Nick Brown might be Minister for the North East, but he is powerless to do any more than celebrate, or lament as political figures around Reading are undoubtedly doing.
The limitations of parliamentary democracy in the face of the capitalist imperative are well illustrated by this case. It is all very well for Dave Anderson to opine, "This is good news for beer drinkers of the North...I hope the new owners build on our great brewing heritage to develop and secure its long term future here."
The key word here is "hope" for that is all he can do; no matter how strong his majority, if the new owners decide greater profit can be made by moving Brown Ale production elsewhere then that very small minority of executives will prevail.
Brown Ale, along with all other products, is merely a commodity whose value can only be realised through sale and the profit maximised by reducing production costs to the minimum required. Whether NUFC players run around with blue stars on their chests or the name of a failing bank is a purely commercial decision.
And as for heritage? The only heritage that counts for the working class is its own organised strength and experience, which must not be subverted by the pitching of one group against another.