'You're Barred!': Labour's Dispute with Public Houses Forecasts a New Year Headache.
Labour MPs returning to their local areas this weekend might feel a sense of relief as a chaotic parliamentary session ends. Yet, for those looking to frequent their local pub for a relaxing pint, goodwill could be in short supply. In fact, some may discover they are not allowed through the door.
Over the past few weeks, businesses nationwide have been putting up signs that proclaim "MPs Barred" in demonstration to revisions in commercial property taxes announced by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in her most recent financial statement.
This protest results in one fewer escape for many government backbenchers seeking solace from the harsh truth of their party's unpopularity. Representatives now say regular hostility in public spaces after a rocky first 18 months that has seen the government's support drop sharply from around a third to roughly under a fifth.
"It's challenging being the representative of the constituency you have forever lived in," remarked one. "The local pub is where we went with the kids and just be a normal family. But the recent visits we've just ended up being shouted at by other drinkers. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to enter."
This feeling of frustration is evident in a online clip by Tom Hayes, the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East, lamenting being barred from one of his local pubs, the Larderhouse.
"It's the Christmas season," he noted. "But the Larderhouse and other businesses with a 'No Labour MPs' sign in the window, they are undermining the inclusive culture that publicans have helped to cultivate." He added, "We have to get politics off the high street completely, but above all at Christmas."
A Cornerstone in the Public Consciousness
After a difficult few years marked by rising expenses, the COVID-19 crisis, and evolving social trends, publicans were optimistic the budget might bring some relief—namely through a overdue reform of the commercial tax system.
But the chancellor dashed those expectations, leaving the system unreformed and choosing instead to reduce the multiplier and pledge ÂŁ4.3bn over three years in aid for the retail and hospitality sectors.
While perhaps a positive step, the benefit of that funding pledge has been minimized by the effect of a periodic property reassessment, which has caused the rateable value of pubs and restaurants to increase sharply from their Covid-affected lows.
From next April, business taxes are set to jump by more than double for the typical hotel and over three-quarters for a pub, versus just 4% for big grocery chains and 7% for distribution warehouses. A major hospitality group, which operates pubs, restaurants and the Premier Inn hotel chain, estimates it will face an additional tax bill of between ÂŁ40m and ÂŁ50m as a consequence.
Joe Butler, the landlord at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, said: "Virtually instantly, the valuation of our business has doubled. That's going to be a massive rise for us."
This pressure on publicans is directly felt in the price of a punter's pint.
"A pint of beer is now too high. When we first became landlords 10 years ago, we charged ÂŁ3.40 a pint. We're now approaching ÂŁ7 a pint," Butler added.
Furthermore, Covid-era tax reliefs are ending, while hospitality operators are still coping with rises in employer contributions and the living wage from last year's budget.
"If you wanted to write the least helpful financial plan for pubs and consumers, you couldn't have done much worse than what we saw," stated Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairperson of Camra, the campaign for real ale.
A number within the Labour party feel this is a fight they could have sidestepped, not least because of the important role the neighborhood inn plays in national life.
Richard Quigley, the Labour MP for the Isle of Wight West, who also runs a fish and chip shop on the island, argued: "We said for two years to the sector that we are going to provide support but then they get slapped with this new assessment. We can't have rates going down for big corporations but increasing for independent businesses."
Commentators point out that Keir Starmer himself has historically been a frequent patron at his local pub, the Pineapple in north London, and often references their value to neighborhoods. "There's nothing any of us like better than going to the pub for a drink, myself included," the prime minister stated in February.
But pollsters compare picking a fight with publicans to taking on NHS workers in terms of popular sentiment.
Joe Twyman, director of the polling firm Deltapoll, noted: "From soap operas to real life, pubs have a special place in the British psyche.
"In the public's view the neighborhood inn is perceived to be an integral component of the community, even if a good proportion of those same people will infrequently drink there.
"The danger for politicians with antagonising pubs is that your critics will easily be able to accuse you of undermining the foundation of this nation and its history, especially in rural areas. And they will be able to produce many emotive examples to make their case."
'A Matter of Principle'
One such case is Andy Lennox, the publican at the Old Thatch pub in Wimborne, Dorset, and the coordinator of the "MPs Barred" initiative. Lennox reports he has handed out signs to nearly 1,000 venues and is sending out 100 more every day.
His campaign has gained the endorsement of several well-known figures, such as television presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who runs a pub called the Farmer's Dog, and pop star Rick Astley, who part-owns a brewpub in north London—although the latter has indicated he will not actually ban Labour MPs.
"We have pleaded for relief for a very long time," stated Lennox, who is demanding a temporary VAT reduction. "Ministers is spinning this as a helpful policy but that's not what people are experiencing, and that is the thing that has aggrieved so many people."
Several within the hospitality trade believe a campaign singling out individual politicians is may have unintended consequences. "I'm not sure it's a good idea to ban the precise representatives we should be trying to persuade and speak to," said Corbett-Collins.
When asked this week, the Treasury pointed to the package being offered to hospitality. "We're protecting pubs, restaurants and cafes with the budget's ÂŁ4.3bn support package. This is in addition to our initiatives to ease licensing, maintaining our cut to alcohol duty on beer from the tap, and capping corporation tax," a spokesperson stated.
The publicans, however, are in not the frame of mind to compromise, even if losing MPs
