'Not Welcome!': The Government's Battle with Pubs Promises a New Year Problem.
Labour MPs visiting their home districts this end of the week might breathe a sigh of respite as a turbulent parliamentary session concludes. But, for those planning to frequent their community tavern for a relaxing drink, goodwill could be in short supply. In fact, some may discover they are not allowed through the door.
In recent weeks, venues across the country have been putting up signs that declare "Labour MPs Not Welcome" in objection to adjustments in commercial property taxes unveiled by the Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in her most recent financial statement.
This protest translates to one fewer escape for many government backbenchers seeking refuge from the harsh truth of their slumping poll ratings. Backbenchers now say regular antagonism in everyday places after a rocky first 18 months that has seen the government's support plummet from around 34% to roughly under a fifth.
"It can be hard being the representative of the constituency you have always lived in," remarked one. "Our neighborhood bar is where we went with the kids and just be a regular family. But the past occasions we've just ended up being verbally abused by other customers. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to get in."
This feeling of frustration is visible in a online clip by Tom Hayes, the Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East, addressing being banned from one of his regular haunts, the Larderhouse.
"It's meant to be a time of joy," he said. "However the Larderhouse and other businesses with a 'MPs Not Welcome' sticker in the window, they are damaging the welcoming atmosphere that publicans have helped to nourish." He added, "We have to get politics off the town centre full stop, but especially at Christmas."
A Cherished Institution in the British Psyche
After a tough times marked by economic pressures, the COVID-19 crisis, and changing habits, publicans were optimistic the chancellor's statement might bring some assistance—specifically through a overdue revamp of the commercial tax system.
However the chancellor poured cold water on those hopes, leaving the system unreformed and choosing instead to reduce headline rates and allocate £4.3bn over three years in aid for the retail and hospitality sectors.
While perhaps a supportive move, the impact of that support package has been overshadowed by the effect of a three-yearly property revaluation, which has caused the valuation of pubs and restaurants to spike from their pandemic-era lows.
From next April, business taxes are set to increase by more than double for the typical hotel and 76% for a public house, compared with just 4% for big grocery chains and 7% for distribution warehouses. Whitbread, which owns multiple brands, states it will face an extra tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a consequence.
Joe Butler, the publican at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, explained: "Literally overnight, the worth of our business has doubled. That's going to be a huge increase for us."
This pressure on publicans is inevitably felt in the price of a punter's pint.
"The price of a pint is now prohibitively expensive. When we first took this pub on 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now nearly £7 a pint," Butler said.
At the same time, pandemic-related tax breaks are falling away, while hospitality operators are still managing rises in national insurance and the living wage from last year's budget.
"If you wanted to write the least helpful budget for the hospitality sector and its customers, you couldn't have done much worse than what we saw," said Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairperson of Camra, the campaign for real ale.
A number within the Labour party feel this is a fight they should not have picked, not least because of the important place the community pub plays in society.
Richard Quigley, the MP for the Isle of Wight West, who also runs a fish and chip shop on the island, argued: "We pledged for two years to pubs and hospitality businesses that we are going to offer relief but then they get hit by this revaluation. We must not see rates being reduced for large multinational companies but increasing for independent businesses."
Observers note that Keir Starmer himself has long been a regular at his local, the Pineapple in north London, and frequently speaks of their significance to local communities. "There's nothing any of us like better than going to the pub for a pint, myself included," the PM stated in February.
However political analysts liken picking a fight with pub owners to taking on NHS workers in terms of public perception.
Joe Twyman, co-founder of the polling firm Deltapoll, said: "In fiction and in fact, pubs have a special place in the public imagination.
"For many people the neighborhood inn is seen as an key pillar of the locality, even if a good proportion of those same people will infrequently drink there.
"The hazard with making an enemy of pubs is that your political rivals will readily accuse you of undermining the core of this country and its history, especially in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many emotive examples to prove their point."
'Not a Personal Vendetta'
One such example is Andy Lennox, the landlord at the Old Thatch pub in Wimborne, Dorset, and the organiser of the "No Labour MPs" initiative. Lennox states he has handed out notices to nearly 1,000 establishments and is dispatching 100 more every day.
His action has been backed by several high-profile figures, such as broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson, who runs a pub called the Farmer's Dog, and singer Rick Astley, who part-owns a brewpub in north London—though the latter has clarified he will not actually ban Labour MPs.
"We have been asking for relief for a very long time," said Lennox, who is calling for a short-term VAT reduction. "Ministers is dressing this up as a support measure but that's not what people are seeing, and that is the thing that has frustrated so many people."
Several within the industry think a campaign singling out individual Labour MPs is could have unintended consequences. "I doubt it's a wise move to ban the precise representatives we should be trying to invite in and influence," argued Corbett-Collins.
When questioned this week, the Exchequer spoke of the support being provided to the sector. "We're protecting the hospitality industry with the budget's £4.3bn support package. This is in addition to our work to ease licensing, maintaining our reduction to alcohol duty on draught pints, and limiting corporation tax," a representative commented.
The landlords, on the other hand, are in little mood to compromise, even if losing MPs
