Should MPs be teetotal for a week?
By Ned Simons - 24th February 2011
Denis MacShane won't have won any friends Westminster with his suggestion that Parliament stop serving beer for a week in March.
The Rotherham MP tweeted this afternoon: "Would a way of celebrating alcohol-free week 9-15 March be to shut down Commons drinking holes?"
It seems unlikely his suggestion that they be locked out of their favourite bars will gather that much support from his parliamentary colleagues.
Despite their reputation there are some teetotal MPs, including Dennis Skinner, Keith Vaz and Labour Twitter guru Kerry McCarthy.
But the signatories to an EDM tabled last week that called for a 'beer duty escalator' to tackle above-inflation beer duty increases are likely to be less impressed.