'Not Welcome!': Labour's Clash with Pubs Promises a New Year Problem.

Labour MPs heading back to their constituencies this end of the week might feel a sense of relief as a turbulent political term ends. However, for those looking to visit their neighborhood bar for a relaxing drink, goodwill could be scarce. Indeed, some may realize they are unwelcome inside.

In recent weeks, establishments throughout the nation have been putting up signs that declare "Labour MPs Not Welcome" in demonstration to changes in commercial property taxes unveiled by the Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in her latest financial statement.

This movement means one fewer escape for many government backbenchers seeking solace from the harsh truth of their party's unpopularity. MPs now say regular hostility in community settings after a difficult first period that has seen the party's ratings drop sharply from around a third to roughly under a fifth.

"It's challenging being the representative of the constituency you have forever lived in," said one. "Our neighborhood bar is where we would go with the kids and just be a normal family. But the past occasions we've just ended up being verbally abused by other patrons. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to get in."

This palpable disappointment is visible in a social media post by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, lamenting being barred from one of his regular haunts, the Larderhouse.

"We're in the festive period," he noted. "However the Larderhouse and other establishments with a 'No Labour MPs' sticker in the window, they are undermining the welcoming atmosphere that business owners have helped to nourish." 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 National Identity

After a tough times marked by economic pressures, the pandemic, and evolving social trends, landlords were hopeful the budget might bring some relief—specifically through a overdue reform of the commercial tax system.

However the chancellor poured cold water on those hopes, keeping the system unreformed and opting rather to reduce headline rates and allocate £4.3bn over three years in aid for the retail and hospitality sectors.

While perhaps a supportive move, the benefit of that funding pledge has been overshadowed by the effect of a three-yearly property revaluation, which has caused the taxable value of pubs and restaurants to spike from their Covid-affected lows.

Beginning in next April, business taxes are set to rise by more than double for the average hotel and over three-quarters for a public house, versus just 4% for big grocery chains and 7% for logistics centres. A major hospitality group, which operates pubs, restaurants and the Premier Inn hotel chain, says it will face an extra tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a result.

Joe Butler, the landlord at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, commented: "With the click of a finger, the worth of our business has increased twofold. That's going to be a significant burden for us."

This pressure on publicans is inevitably felt in the price of a punter's pint.

"A pint of beer is now too high. When we first took this pub on 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now nearly £7 a pint," Butler said.

At the same time, Covid-era tax discounts are falling away, while hospitality operators are still coping with increases in national insurance and the living wage from last year's budget.

"To create the worst possible budget for the hospitality sector and its customers, you wouldn't have got far away from what came out," remarked Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairperson of Camra, the campaign for real ale.

A number within the Labour party feel this is a fight they should not have picked, not least because of the important place the local pub holds in society.

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 help you out but then they get slapped with this revaluation. We must not see rates being reduced for big corporations but increasing for small restaurants and pubs."

Observers note that Keir Starmer himself has often been a frequent patron at his local pub, the Pineapple in north London, and frequently speaks of their value to local communities. "There is little we prefer than going to the local for a pint, myself included," the prime minister remarked in February.

However strategists liken confronting pub owners to taking on NHS workers in terms of public perception.

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

"In the public's view the local pub is seen as an integral component of the community, even if a good proportion of those same people will seldom drink there.

"The political risk with making an enemy of pubs is that your political rivals will easily be able to accuse you of attacking the core of this country and its traditions, especially in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many powerful 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 organiser of the "No Labour MPs" initiative. Lennox says he has provided notices to nearly 1,000 establishments and is sending out 100 more every day.

His action has been backed by a number of well-known figures, such as television presenter 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—however the latter has clarified he will not formally bar Labour MPs.

"We have pleaded for support for a very long time," said Lennox, who is demanding a short-term 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."

A number within the sector feel a protest targeting individual politicians is could backfire. "I doubt it's a good idea to ban the very individuals we should be trying to engage with and influence," said Corbett-Collins.

When asked this week, the Treasury highlighted the support being provided to hospitality. "We are supporting the hospitality industry with the budget's £4.3bn investment. This comes on top of our efforts to simplify licensing, keeping our cut to alcohol duty on draught pints, and limiting corporation tax," a spokesperson commented.

The publicans, nevertheless, are in little mood to compromise, even if turning away MPs