Top Dotty

Sad news for the House of Commons. Top Toddy' has been banned from the Strangers bar because of an objection by Labour MP Kate Green.

Apparently Ms. Green was 'disturbed' at the sight of the beer and complained to the leader of the Commons, Sir George Young. She called for a debate on "dignity at work in parliament" and tweeted that the beer "demeans women". It was promptly removed from sale.

Kate Green likes to boast that she has "not step foot in" the Strangers bar in the eighteen months since she was elected to be an MP. I'm not clear how you can be demeaned by something that happens in a room that you don't visit and since when did drinking beer involve 'dignity at work'?




Top Totty is an award winning beer brewed by Stafford-based Slater's and was first introduced to the Strangers bar in 2007 as a guest beer. It was so popular that it sold out after 3 days.




Kate Green was selected to run for Labour in an all-woman shortlist. She won the seat of Stretford and Urmston with 48.6% of the vote in 2010. She serves as the "chairman" of the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party. She is a member of the GMB and Unite trade unions, the Fawcett Society and the Fabian Society.

I'm not sure how well banning an award winning beer based because it 'demeans women' will go down in the male dominated unions, but it will probably go down better with the Fawcett Society which campaigns for womens rights. Sadly, men have no rights in the Labour party.

It seems that in some circles, the right of a drinker (male of female) to drink a beer is trumped by the right of a woman to object to a cartoon picture of another woman, even if she is clothed in a bikini. You would think that if any women object to the beer they could simply not drink it, but that is not enough - they need to stop others enjoying the award winning taste too.

Top Totty is described as "a stunning blonde beer, full-bodied with a voluptuous hop aroma". That sounds like a beer worth drinking to me.

Maybe they are objecting to the name.

Totty is defined by the Urban Dictionary as:

Totty:
- means a good looking person
- can be either male or female
- eg. "phew, he's a right bit of totty"

Judging by the meaning and the above picture of Ms. Green, maybe we can find one reason why she might object to the name. Mind you, being good looking is not a crime, neither is being ugly.

Urban Dictionary also have the definition:

Totty:
- To be unsteady on one's feet.
- eg. 'After five pints Bill was very totty'.

That is a great name for a beer. People do not drink it to help them stand up.

Another definition by Cambridge Dictionaries Online is:

Totty:
- tot·ty
- adj \ˈtätē\
- archaic : dazed, fuddled

Maybe that is why she objected. It sounds like a perfect description of Kate Green.