'You're Barred!': Labour's Battle with Pubs Forecasts a Fresh Year Problem.

Government ministers returning to their local areas this weekend might experience a wave of relief as a hectic parliamentary session wraps up. However, for those looking to stop by their community tavern for a relaxing pint, goodwill could be lacking. Indeed, some may discover they are barred from entry.

For weeks, venues nationwide have been putting up signs that proclaim "No Labour MPs" in protest to revisions in business rates unveiled by the Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in her autumn financial statement.

This campaign translates to one fewer haven for many Labour MPs seeking solace from the harsh truth of their party's unpopularity. MPs now report frequent antagonism in everyday places after a difficult first 18 months that has seen the party's ratings drop sharply from around 34% to roughly under a fifth.

"It can be hard being the MP of the constituency you have forever lived in," commented one. "That pub is where we used to go with the kids and just be a regular 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 recent video by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, discussing being banned from one of his regular haunts, the Larderhouse.

"We're in the festive period," he noted. "But the Larderhouse and other establishments with a 'MPs Not Welcome' sticker in the window, they are eroding the community spirit that publicans have helped to nourish." He went on, "We have to get politics off the high street completely, but especially at Christmas."

'Pubs Have a Special Place in the Public Consciousness

After a difficult few years marked by rising expenses, the pandemic, and evolving social trends, licensees were optimistic the budget might bring some support—specifically through a long-promised overhaul of the commercial tax system.

However the chancellor disappointed those expectations, keeping the system unreformed and opting rather to lower headline rates and pledge £4.3bn over three years in financial support for the shops, pubs, and restaurants sectors.

While perhaps a gesture of goodwill, the value of that support package has been minimized by the effect of a periodic property reassessment, which has caused the rateable value of hospitality venues to increase sharply from their pandemic-era lows.

From next April, rates are set to jump by 115% for the typical hotel and 76% for a public house, versus just 4% for big grocery chains and 7% for distribution warehouses. Whitbread, which owns multiple brands, says it will face an additional tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a result.

Joe Butler, the publican at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, commented: "Literally overnight, the valuation of our business has increased twofold. That's going to be a significant burden for us."

This financial strain on publicans is inevitably passed on to the price of a punter's pint.

"A pint of beer is now too high. When we first started here 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now nearly £7 a pint," Butler added.

Furthermore, Covid-era tax reliefs are falling away, while sector businesses are still absorbing increases in employer contributions and the minimum wage from the previous budget.

"To create the worst possible budget for pubs and consumers, you couldn't have done much worse than what we saw," stated Ash Corbett-Collins, the chair of Camra, the campaign for real ale.

Several within the Labour party believe this is a fight they ought to have avoided, not least because of the vital role the local pub plays in British culture.

Richard Quigley, the Labour MP for the Isle of Wight West, who also runs a chip shop on the island, commented: "We promised for two years to the sector that we are going to provide support but then they get hit by this new assessment. We can't have rates going down for big corporations but increasing for local venues."

Some note that Keir Starmer himself has historically been a frequent patron at his local pub, the Pineapple in north London, and regularly mentions their significance to neighborhoods. "There is little we prefer than going to the pub for a pint, myself included," the prime minister stated in February.

But strategists liken confronting publicans to doing so with NHS workers in terms of public perception.

Joe Twyman, co-founder of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, noted: "From the Queen Vic to the Rovers Return, pubs have a unique position in the national consciousness.

"For many people the local pub is regarded as an important part of the community, even if a significant number of those same people will infrequently drink there.

"The political risk with making an enemy of pubs is that your critics will easily be able to accuse you of assaulting the foundation of this country and its heritage, especially in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many emotive examples to prove their point."

'Not a Personal Vendetta'

One such case is Andy Lennox, the landlord at the Old Thatch pub in Wimborne, Dorset, and the coordinator of the "MPs Barred" initiative. Lennox reports he has handed out notices to nearly 1,000 premises and is sending out 100 more every day.

His campaign has gained the endorsement of a number of prominent figures, such as broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson, who runs a pub called the Farmer's Dog, and pop star Rick Astley, who has a stake in a bar in north London—although the latter has clarified he will not refuse service to Labour MPs.

"We have been asking for relief for a years," stated Lennox, who is calling for a temporary VAT reduction. "The Treasury is presenting this as a relief package but that's not what people are feeling, and that is the thing that has angered so many people."

A number within the hospitality trade feel a protest singling out individual politicians is likely to have unintended consequences. "I'm not sure it's a wise move to ban the very individuals we should be trying to persuade and speak to," commented Corbett-Collins.

When pressed this week, the government department highlighted the support being offered to hospitality. "We are supporting the hospitality industry with the budget's £4.3bn funding. This is in addition to our work to simplify licensing, keeping our reduction to alcohol duty on beer from the tap, and capping corporation tax," a official stated.

The publicans, however, are in not the frame of mind to compromise, even if alienating MPs