Top Totty Beer Withdrawn From Parliament Bar After Outcry From Female MPs

Top Totty Beer Pulled From Parliament Bar

A beer called "Top Totty" has been pulled from a parliamentary bar after female MPs branded the label, featuring a scantily clad woman, "demeaning" and a symbol of sexism in Westminster.

Kate Green, Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, said she was "disturbed" at the guest beer at the Strangers Bar in the Commons, and proved the need for a debate on "dignity in the workplace".

Shadow minister Kerry McCarthy told the Huffington Post the decision to stock the beer showed how "women are not treated with respect".

"It's bizarre that they didn't realise it could be controversial. It is totally demeaning.

"It's the picture. The picture is so 1970s playboy. I just can't believe, I suppose it would still be a bit offensive in a commercial bar. But something with a playboy bunny called Top Totty in the MPs' bar just seems totally demeaning."

"This highlights the dilemma of being a politician. There's no place for it in what is basically our workplace ... but I also think it's a tiny symbolic thing about the way women are not treated with respect.

"Bear in mind this is the workplace of many female MPs, and other women too.

She added that Kate Green, the MP who fought to have the beer removed, was doing "very serious work".

"This might seem a trivial issue but it's something that can be very easily rectified.

Green asked Sir George Young, leader of the House of Commons on Thursday: "Would the leader of the house join with me in asking that this beer is withdrawn immediately from the bar?"

The beer is described by manufacturer Slater's Ales as : "A stunning blonde beer full bodied with a voluptuous hop aroma.

"This award winning beer brewed soley (sic) with Whitbred Goldings Hops produces an initial burst of bitterness with a citrus fruity finish."

Eagle eyed bloggers spotted the beverage had been nominated to be served in parliament by Conservative MP Jeremy Lefroy, who has removed the press release praising the "fantastic" beer from his website.

The House of Commons speaker's wife, Sally Bercow, said the beer's name was "outrageous."

But Charlotte Vere, founder of Women On and former Tory candidate told Huffington Post UK the row represented "more authoritarian posturing from radical feministas who are after a fun-free and sex-free world."

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