'Entry Denied!': Labour's Clash with Pubs Signals a New Year Problem.

Labour MPs heading back to their local areas this weekend might experience a wave of respite as a chaotic political term ends. But, for those hoping to frequent their local pub for a casual drink, festive cheer could be lacking. Indeed, some may find they are unwelcome inside.

Over the past few weeks, venues throughout the nation have been putting up signs that state "No Labour MPs" in demonstration to changes in commercial property taxes revealed by the Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in her most recent budget.

This protest results in one fewer retreat for many government backbenchers seeking solace from the harsh truth of their public disapproval. Backbenchers now say regular animosity in everyday places after a challenging first 18 months that has seen the party's ratings drop sharply from around a third to roughly 18%.

"It is difficult being the representative of the area you have always lived in," commented one. "The local pub is where we would go with the kids and just be a normal family. But the last few times we've just ended up being confronted by other drinkers. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to get in."

This feeling of frustration is evident in a recent video by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, lamenting being banned from one of his local pubs, the Larderhouse.

"It's meant to be a time of joy," he noted. "However the Larderhouse and other businesses with a 'No Labour MPs' notice in the window, they are undermining the community spirit that business owners have helped to foster." He went on, "We have to get politics off the town centre full stop, but above all at Christmas."

'Pubs Have a Special Place in the Public Consciousness

After a difficult few years marked by rising expenses, the COVID-19 crisis, and evolving social trends, publicans were hopeful the budget might bring some support—namely through a overdue overhaul of the commercial tax system.

However the chancellor poured cold water on those expectations, keeping the system largely unchanged and opting rather to lower the multiplier and pledge £4.3bn over three years in funding for the retail and hospitality sectors.

While perhaps a gesture of goodwill, the benefit of that support package has been overshadowed by the effect of a periodic property revaluation, which has caused the rateable value of hospitality venues to spike from their pandemic-era lows.

From next April, business taxes are set to jump by more than double for the typical hotel and over three-quarters for a public house, in contrast to just four percent for large supermarkets and 7% for logistics centres. A major hospitality group, which owns multiple brands, says it will face an additional tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a consequence.

Joe Butler, the publican at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, commented: "Virtually instantly, the value of our business has increased twofold. That's going to be a massive rise for us."

This financial strain on publicans is inevitably felt in the price of a customer's pint.

"The price of a pint is now too high. When we first started here 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now verging on £7 a pint," Butler said.

At the same time, Covid-era tax breaks are falling away, while hospitality operators are still coping with increases in employer contributions and the minimum wage from the previous budget.

"If you wanted to write the worst possible financial plan for the hospitality sector and its customers, you wouldn't have got far away from what was announced," said Ash Corbett-Collins, the chair of Camra, the campaign for real ale.

Many within the governing party feel this is a fight they should not have picked, not least because of the important role the community pub holds in society.

Richard Quigley, the Labour MP for the Isle of Wight West, who also operates a fish and chip shop on the island, said: "We said 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 taxes going down for large multinational companies but up for local venues."

Observers point out that Keir Starmer himself has often been a frequent patron at his local pub, the Pineapple in north London, and regularly mentions their significance to local communities. "We all enjoy nothing more than going to the pub for a pint, myself included," the PM said in February.

However strategists liken antagonising publicans to taking on NHS workers in terms of popular sentiment.

Joe Twyman, director of the polling firm Deltapoll, explained: "In fiction and in fact, pubs have a unique position in the national consciousness.

"For many people the neighborhood inn is perceived to be an key pillar of the locality, even if a good proportion of those same people will infrequently drink there.

"The political risk with alienating pubs is that your opponents will quickly accuse you of undermining the very heart of this country and its traditions, particularly in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many heartfelt examples to prove their point."

'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" campaign. Lennox says he has handed out notices to nearly 1,000 premises and is sending out 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 singer Rick Astley, who has a stake in a brewpub in north London—although the latter has clarified he will not actually ban Labour MPs.

"We have pleaded for relief for a considerable period," said Lennox, who is demanding a short-term VAT reduction. "The government is spinning this as a support measure but that's not what people are experiencing, and that is the thing that has aggrieved so many people."

A number within the hospitality trade think a campaign singling out individual Labour MPs is likely to be counterproductive. "I'm not sure it's a wise move to ban the exact people we should be trying to persuade and influence," commented Corbett-Collins.

When pressed this week, the Exchequer spoke of the assistance being provided to hospitality. "We have aided pubs, restaurants and cafes with the budget's £4.3bn funding. This comes on top of our initiatives to simplify licensing, maintaining our reduction to alcohol duty on draught pints, and capping corporation tax," a spokesperson commented.

The publicans, however, are in little mood to compromise, even if losing MPs