Get out of my pub! Landlords ban Labour MPs after enterprise charges bombshell

Pub landlords are banning Labour MPs amid a furious backlash over huge business rates increases that they say threaten their survival.

Businesses were left seething after discovering their property tax bills will increase steeply next year – making a mockery of the Chancellor’s claim to have helped the hospitality industry.

The boss of one of the country’s largest pub chains has now implored Rachel Reeves to change tack, warning her reforms ‘could be the tipping point that changes the shape of the industry forever’.

Around 50 pubs across the country have put up signs saying ‘No Labour MPs’ in a show of protest, according to restaurateurs behind the rallying cry.

James Fowler, who owns the Larder House pub in Bournemouth and came up with the idea to ban politicians, said that venues are ‘absolutely being taxed out’.

‘You just feel like you are being ignored all the time, so it is a very direct and clear message that we are not happy with Labour MPs and the hidden taxes they have thrown onto us,’ he said.

Last orders: Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves enjoy a pint in the pub

Around 50 pubs across the country have put up signs saying ‘No Labour MPs’ in a show of protest, according to restaurateurs behind the rallying cry

Andy Lennox, who owns six venues in Dorset, said the industry is in ‘last chance saloon’ after the Government ignored its pleas and heaped on higher bills.

Despite several meetings between hospitality sector representatives and ministers, Lennox said that ‘Labour aren’t listening’ – meaning ‘more extreme measures are now needed’.

He said his venues were already struggling after Labour’s first Budget, which saw massive increases in employer National Insurance contributions and wages.

‘There’s nowhere else to cut, everybody has cut to the bone already, we’re not looking at job cuts, saving hours, price rises – you’re looking at which restaurants aren’t financially viable now,’ he added.

‘They [Labour] keep saying we’re helping hospitality and it’s just absolutely untrue.

‘We cannot afford to close. We cannot afford to strike. We cannot afford to down tools and march on London. So we will do the one thing that gets MPs’ attention. We stop serving them until they start serving us.’ 

Greene King chief executive Nick Mackenzie, who oversees 2,600 pubs, told Labour that pubs had been ‘let down’, in an opinion piece for the Daily Mail.

‘Quite simply, this isn’t the relief or reform we were promised, and it could be the tipping point that changes the shape of the industry forever,’ he said.

Pubs had survived ‘wars, recessions and even a global pandemic’ but are now threatened by ‘the constant layering of costs – from wage rises, food inflation and recycling requirements, topped off by business rates’, he added.

High Street firms have long complained about business rates, saying the unfair and outdated system penalises pubs and shops over online sellers.

They had been hoping for an improvement in last month’s Budget when Ms Reeves boasted that she was introducing ‘permanently lower tax rates for over 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties’.

She hailed ‘the lowest tax rates since 1991’.

But as more details emerged after her speech, many small businesses realised that their bills would actually go up.

And a report by UK Hospitality revealed that small venues – such as pubs, bars and cafes – will see business rates bills rise by £318million over the next three years.

The Conservatives said the ‘Budget bombshell’ represented ‘one of the most punishing sets of tax rises High Streets have faced in years’.

By contrast, large department stores Harrods and Selfridges will see their bills go down, according to analysis by tax firm Ryan.