Hugo Swire MP becomes Save The Red Lion Campaign Patron!



Hugo Swire MP toasts the Red Lion & the Campaign



Save The Red Lion Campaign is pleased to announce that our local MP Hugo Swire has agreed to become the Patron of the Campaign which is dedicated to retaining the Red Lion pub in Sidbury, east Devon.

It is equally pleasing that Hugo Swire, despite being a Minister in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, found the time during the early evening of Friday 12 July to come along to the Red Lion to make the announcement that he had agreed to be a Patron of the Campaign.

In front of a packed crowd in the pub, Hugo Swire said that he would be very concerned for the village if the Red Lion was not to continue as a pub as he recognised that a pub should be at the heart of a thriving village like Sidbury. Hugo Swire wished the Campaign all the success in seeking to retain the Red Lion which its owners Punch Taverns placed up for sale 3 months ago.

Hugo Swire committed to fully supporting the Campaign and to working with it to maximise the support that the Department for Communities and Local Government, the government department responsible for ensuring that local community assets are retained, could make available to ensure that the Red Lion remained as a local pub.

Hugo Swire recalled his links to the Red Lion, a pub that he used to often frequent, from the time in the recent past when he lived in the village for many years. He also expressed his fondness for the Red Lion, as well as for the village of Sidbury.

Save The Red Lion Campaign Chair Fred Burnett said “It was terrific that our local MP Hugo Swire found the time to come along to the Red Lion to meet so many Campaign supporters and to show public support for the pub. We are immensely pleased that Hugo has so quickly agreed to become a Patron to the Campaign to retain the Red Lion”.

Fred Burnett went on to say “Having such a high profile and well connected MP such as Hugo Swire as a Patron of the Campaign is important as it reinforces the importance that the village attaches to retaining the Red Lion as a pub for the local community. All of us involved in the Campaign look forward to working with Hugo in our fight to retain the Red Lion”.

Save The Red Lion Campaign continues to fight to retain the Red Lion as the pub at the heart of the village and expects to be able to build upon this important step in the campaign.