'Not Welcome!': Labour's Dispute with Pubs Forecasts a New Year Challenge.

Labour MPs returning to their constituencies this weekend might breathe a sigh of respite as a hectic parliamentary session ends. But, for those looking to frequent their local pub for a restorative beer, goodwill could be lacking. In fact, some may realize they are barred from entry.

For weeks, venues across the country have been displaying signs that declare "MPs Barred" in demonstration to changes in business rates announced by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in her latest budget.

This protest means one fewer escape for many elected officials seeking solace from the bruising reality of their party's unpopularity. MPs now describe commonplace antagonism in public spaces after a challenging first 18 months that has seen the party's ratings fall from around a third to roughly 18%.

"It is difficult being the MP of the constituency you have forever lived in," commented 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 confronted by other drinkers. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to enter."

This feeling of frustration is visible in a social media post by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, discussing being refused entry to one of his local pubs, the Larderhouse.

"It's meant to be a time of joy," he noted. "Yet the Larderhouse and other establishments with a 'No Labour MPs' notice in the window, they are damaging the welcoming atmosphere that publicans have helped to foster." He went on, "We need to remove politics off the main street full stop, but especially at Christmas."

'Pubs Have a Special Place in the Public Consciousness

After a difficult few years marked by economic pressures, the COVID-19 crisis, and changing habits, licensees were hopeful the chancellor's statement might bring some support—namely through a much-anticipated reform of the commercial tax system.

Yet the chancellor poured cold water on those expectations, leaving the system largely unchanged and opting rather to lower headline rates and pledge £4.3bn over three years in financial support for the retail and hospitality sectors.

While seemingly a positive step, the value of that support package has been dwarfed by the effect of a periodic property reassessment, which has caused the rateable value of pubs and restaurants to surge from their Covid-affected lows.

From next April, rates are set to increase by 115% for the typical hotel and 76% for a pub, in contrast to just four percent for big grocery chains and 7% for distribution warehouses. Whitbread, which operates pubs, restaurants and the Premier Inn hotel chain, states it will face an extra tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a outcome.

Joe Butler, the landlord at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, commented: "Virtually instantly, the value of our business has doubled. That's going to be a significant burden for us."

This pressure on business owners is certainly reflected in the price of a customer's pint.

"The cost of a drink is now prohibitively expensive. When we first became landlords 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now approaching £7 a pint," Butler said.

At the same time, Covid-era tax breaks are being phased out, while sector businesses are still coping with rises in national insurance and the living wage from the previous budget.

"To create the most damaging financial plan for pubs and consumers, you couldn't have done much worse than what came out," stated Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairperson of Camra, the consumer organisation.

Many within the Labour party believe this is a fight they should not have picked, 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 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 cannot allow taxes being reduced for large multinational companies but up for independent businesses."

Commentators highlight that Keir Starmer himself has historically been a regular at his local, the Pineapple in north London, and regularly mentions their value to local communities. "We all enjoy nothing more than going to the pub for a pint, myself included," the PM remarked in February.

However strategists liken picking a fight with publicans to doing so with NHS workers in terms of political risk.

Joe Twyman, co-founder of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, said: "In fiction and in fact, pubs have a cherished status in the public imagination.

"To a lot of individuals the local pub is regarded as an key pillar of the locality, even if a large segment of those same people will seldom drink there.

"The danger for politicians with antagonising pubs is that your political rivals will easily be able to accuse you of assaulting the very heart of this country and its heritage, notably in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many heartfelt examples to prove their point."

'Nothing Personal'

One such example is Andy Lennox, the publican at the Old Thatch pub in Wimborne, Dorset, and the organiser of the "No Labour MPs" campaign. Lennox reports he has distributed signs to nearly 1,000 premises and is dispatching 100 more every day.

His protest has been backed by several well-known figures, including broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson, who owns a pub called the Farmer's Dog, and singer Rick Astley, who has a stake in a brewpub in north London—however the latter has clarified he will not formally bar Labour MPs.

"We have been asking for relief for a considerable period," stated Lennox, who is demanding a short-term VAT reduction. "The government is dressing this up as a helpful policy but that's not what people are feeling, and that is the thing that has frustrated so many people."

A number within the hospitality trade think a campaign singling out individual Labour MPs is may be counterproductive. "It's questionable it's a good idea to ban the precise representatives we should be trying to engage with and lobby," commented Corbett-Collins.

When asked this week, the Treasury pointed to the package being offered to the sector. "We have aided the hospitality industry with the budget's £4.3bn 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 said.

The business owners, however, are in not the frame of mind to compromise, even if turning away MPs