Bars begin boycott of Calderdale brewery over beer sales to Israel
Plus, councillors set to dip into savings to fund £9.2m overspend
Hello and welcome to The Calderdale Lead.
I hope you’re all well and have had a good start to the week.
In today’s edition we’ve got news of pubs and bars across Calderdale (and beyond) boycotting beer from one of the borough’s most popular breweries and the backlash it is causing.
Plus, details from our LDRS on plans by town hall chiefs to dip into savings to plug a huge near-£10m overspend for the last financial year.
So, on with the news…
Vocation facing backlash and boycotts over decision to sell beer to Israel
By Andrew Greaves
One of Calderdale’s top breweries is facing a boycott from some of the borough’s pubs and bars over its decision to sell beer to retailers in Israel.
Vocation Brewery, based at Cragg Vale, has faced a backlash from pro-Palestinian activists after B7 Beer House, a bar and nano-brewery in Be’er Sheva, southern Israel, announced it had received a shipment of its beers on social media.
In a post on social media site Reddit, a member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS) said Vocation needed to be added to boycott lists, which target companies that are currently still trading or selling to Israeli firms.
And it seems that Calderdale bars are now doing just that.
Fat Fingers Wine and Vinyl, in Todmorden, said they were clearing their fridges of Vocation products.
The bar, which sits inside the Ginger Tiger restaurant, said: “We don’t stock anything from companies still trading with Israel during a genocide. So, with a dramatic sigh and a raised eyebrow, we’re saying goodbye to Vocation and will not be making any further orders. Turns out, their profits matter more than their principles.
“The great news is, that just means we get to cram the fridge full of great new beers from breweries who do give a damn.”
The news has been backed by the venues customers, one posted: “Abolutely the right thing to do, I will miss Vocation Brewery for about five minutes until the new stuff becomes my new favourite.”
Another copied Vocation into a reply and added: “You can still change your morals and do the right thing. I know money talks but so do your locals.”
A number of other venues are taking a similar line to Fat Fingers although one landlord The Calderdale Lead spoke to said he would only be able to stop future orders and could not afford to remove products he already had in his cellar.
The landlord, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “I absolutely support the campaign but for a pub like ours, which orders stock in advance, I couldn’t afford to essentially just write that off.
“I’ve got several kegs of Vocation beer in the cellar and need to shift that to pay the bills. Customers have a choice and I’m sure some will continue to drink Vocation beer.”
Vocation has defended its right to continue sales to the country, which is not illegal.
In a statement, a spokesman for the brewery said: “Like many other UK businesses, we export internationally and don’t condone or support any form of inhumane action.
“Exporting to businesses around the globe involves a lot of different considerations and we always take the time to think carefully about varying factors.
“We will monitor the UK government’s trading relationship with Israel and any associated guidance from the Department for Business & Trade, and will continue to look at how we can make decisions in the best interests of our customers and employees.”
Town Hall chiefs asked to approve use of reserves to fill black hole
By John Greenwood
Senior councillors will need to approve using almost £9.2 million from their authority’s reserves to fund its overspend on day-to-day spending in 2024-25.
Further Calderdale Council savings have shaved almost £3 million off the £12 million deficit which was predicted three quarters of the way through the year.
The deficit will need to be funded from the council’s unallocated – not marked for any specific purpose – cash reserves, Cabinet members, meeting next Monday (June 30) are told.
Overspends which are placing the finances under pressure include adults’ and children’s social care packages, which it legally has to provide.
Although the council has achieved 89 per cent of savings from a revised total of £3.01 million budgeted for 2025-26 – the cold winter meant Calderdale’s gritters had to be out more, making a £120,000 additional saving was not achievable – rising social care costs have outstripped even the increased budgets planned at the start of the year.
Providing temporary accommodation for homeless people, waste collection and management (£1.8 million) and repairs the council is forced to do on some roads to ensure they are safe (£1.2 million) have also proved challenging.
For example, the increased home care packages needed by people saw a £2 million overspend in Adults’ Services budget, and a cumulative overspend – including from previous years – of £19 million on Children and Young People’s Services’ dedicated schools grant for pupils with high needs.
Cabinet councillors are told a recovery plan to address this has been completed with the Department for Education.
Increased demand for transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has seen the cost rise by £1.3 million.
Some directorates, including the Chief Executive’s and Resources and Transformation, underspent, helping reduce the overspends.
The £9.16 million needed from reserves will come from council pots, including Business Rates support (£3.4 million), general budget support reserves (£3 million), money set aside from one-off Government grant funding (£1.1 million), and housing-related reserve funds no longer needed (£596,000).
That’s all for this edition.
We’ve got so much planned over the next few months so… you’re in a position to do so, please consider taking a paid subscription so I can keep popping into your inbox twice a week with a Calderdale digest and stories.
As always, if you have anything you think I should be reporting on or looking into then I’m on calderdale@thelead.uk
Enjoy what is left of the weekend and we’ll be back in your inboxes on Wednesday!
Andrew