Food and drink produced by Hackney firms could soon be dished up at the canteen in Parliament after Diane Abbott invited a group of cooks and brewers to Westminster.
MPs, Lords and staff tasted samples from craft beer makers Crate Brewery, Hackney Brewery, 40ft and the Five Points Brewing Company, along with Violet Cakes, Hansen & Lydersen smoked salmon, Soffles roasted pitta chips and Dalston Cola at the “Hackney Craft Beer and Food Fair”.
Ms Abbott, who is MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, said: “At Parliament we’ve had a Shropshire day, a Lincoln day, an Aberystwyth day.
“We knew Hackney had such great produce so we thought we’d have a Hackney day. The buyer from Parliament is keen to stock something.”
Craft beer accounted for the majority of the stalls at the event, held yesterday in the Jubilee Room.
Ms Abbott told the Gazette: “In the past few years there’s been an explosion in growth in craft breweries in Hackney – it’s partly because Hackney is a young borough and it has a relaxation culture in the bars and coffee bars.
“The thing about craft beer is it’s not just people who want to drink pints and pints and get plastered – people like me, respectable middle-aged ladies, like to go out and have a nice glass of beer, and it amazes me how it’s taken off. People say to me: ‘Has Brexit or downturn affected it?’ – but people still go out and drink beer.”
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