Labour MPs returning to their constituencies this end of the week might experience a wave of relief as a turbulent parliamentary session wraps up. However, for those planning to stop by their community tavern for a relaxing drink, goodwill could be lacking. Indeed, some may realize they are unwelcome inside.
Over the past few weeks, businesses across the country have been displaying signs that state "Labour MPs Not Welcome" in demonstration to adjustments in business rates revealed by the Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in her latest financial statement.
This campaign results in one fewer retreat for many elected officials seeking refuge from the harsh truth of their public disapproval. Representatives now say frequent antagonism in community settings after a difficult first 18 months that has seen the approval numbers drop sharply from around 34% to roughly under a fifth.
"It's challenging being the MP of the constituency you have always lived in," commented one. "That pub is where we would go with the kids and just be a ordinary family. But the recent visits we've just ended up being confronted by other drinkers. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to be served."
This sense of dismay is evident in a online clip by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, lamenting being banned from one of his regular haunts, the Larderhouse.
"We're in the festive period," he stated. "Yet the Larderhouse and other establishments with a 'MPs Not Welcome' notice in the window, they are damaging the inclusive culture that business owners have helped to nourish." He added, "We have to get politics off the high street completely, but particularly at Christmas."
'Pubs Have a Special Place in the Public Consciousness
After a challenging period marked by rising expenses, the pandemic, and evolving social trends, landlords were optimistic the chancellor's statement might bring some assistance—particularly through a long-promised reform of the commercial tax system.
However the chancellor disappointed those hopes, leaving the system unreformed and opting rather to reduce the multiplier and allocate £4.3bn over three years in financial support for the retail and hospitality sectors.
While seemingly a positive step, the benefit of that funding pledge has been overshadowed by the effect of a periodic property reassessment, which has caused the taxable value of pubs and restaurants to spike from their Covid-affected lows.
From next April, rates are set to increase by more than double for the typical hotel and 76% for a public house, compared with just four percent for large supermarkets and 7% for logistics centres. Whitbread, which operates multiple brands, estimates it will face an additional tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a outcome.
Joe Butler, the landlord at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, commented: "Virtually instantly, the valuation of our business has doubled. That's going to be a significant burden for us."
This burden on business owners is directly reflected in the price of a customer's pint.
"A pint of beer is now too high. When we first became landlords 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now approaching £7 a pint," Butler added.
Simultaneously, Covid-era tax discounts are falling away, while hospitality operators are still absorbing increases in national insurance and the minimum wage from last year's budget.
"If you wanted to write the most damaging budget for the hospitality sector and its customers, you would have come close to what was announced," said Ash Corbett-Collins, the chair of Camra, the consumer organisation.
Many within the governing party feel this is a battle they should not have picked, not least because of the central place the neighborhood inn holds in society.
Richard Quigley, the Labour MP for the Isle of Wight West, who also operates a chip shop on the island, said: "We promised for two years to pubs and hospitality businesses that we are going to help you out but then they get slapped with this revaluation. We must not see taxes going down for big corporations but increasing for small restaurants and pubs."
Observers point out that Keir Starmer himself has often been a regular at his local, the Pineapple in north London, and often references their value to neighborhoods. "We all enjoy nothing more than going to the local for a pint, myself included," the PM stated in February.
Yet pollsters compare antagonising publicans to challenging NHS workers in terms of political risk.
Joe Twyman, co-founder of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, explained: "In fiction and in fact, pubs have a cherished status in the public imagination.
"For many people the neighborhood inn is perceived to be an integral component of the community, even if a significant number of those same people will rarely actually drink there.
"The political risk with making an enemy of pubs is that your opponents will quickly accuse you of undermining the core of this nation and its traditions, notably in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many powerful examples to make their case."
'Not a Personal Vendetta'
One such case is Andy Lennox, the publican at the Old Thatch pub in Wimborne, Dorset, and the coordinator of the "No Labour MPs" initiative. Lennox says he has handed out signs to nearly 1,000 premises and is dispatching 100 more every day.
His protest has gained the endorsement of several high-profile figures, such as broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson, who runs a pub called the Farmer's Dog, and pop star Rick Astley, who part-owns a brewpub in north London—however the latter has clarified he will not refuse service to Labour MPs.
"We have pleaded for help for a considerable period," explained Lennox, who is demanding a temporary VAT reduction. "The Treasury is presenting this as a relief package but that's not what people are experiencing, and that is the thing that has frustrated so many people."
Several within the sector feel a protest singling out individual politicians is may backfire. "I doubt it's a effective strategy to ban the very individuals we should be trying to engage with and lobby," argued Corbett-Collins.
When pressed this week, the Treasury pointed to the support being made available to hospitality. "We're protecting the hospitality industry with the budget's £4.3bn investment. This follows our initiatives to simplify licensing, maintaining our cut to alcohol duty on beer from the tap, and capping corporation tax," a representative commented.
The business owners, on the other hand, are in not the frame of mind to compromise, even if losing MPs
