'Entry Denied!': Labour's Clash with Public Houses Promises a Fresh Year Headache.

Government ministers heading back to their constituencies this weekend might experience a wave of respite as a turbulent parliamentary session wraps up. But, for those looking to frequent their community tavern for a casual drink, festive cheer could be lacking. Indeed, some may discover they are not allowed through the door.

In recent weeks, businesses nationwide have been putting up signs that proclaim "No Labour MPs" in demonstration to changes in commercial property taxes revealed by the Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in her latest budget.

This movement means one fewer retreat for many government backbenchers seeking solace from the bruising reality of their public disapproval. MPs now report frequent antagonism in community settings after a challenging first 18 months that has seen the approval numbers drop sharply from around a third to roughly under a fifth.

"It can be hard being the MP of the constituency you have always lived in," commented one. "That pub is where we went with the kids and just be a regular family. But the past occasions we've just ended up being shouted at by other customers. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to be served."

This palpable disappointment is clear in a recent video by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, discussing being barred from one of his regular haunts, the Larderhouse.

"It's meant to be a time of joy," he noted. "But the Larderhouse and other establishments with a 'MPs Not Welcome' sticker in the window, they are damaging the inclusive culture that publicans have helped to cultivate." He went on, "We need to remove politics off the high street full stop, but particularly 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 optimistic the budget might bring some relief—namely through a overdue overhaul of the commercial tax system.

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

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

Starting from next April, rates are set to increase by 115% for the typical hotel and over three-quarters for a public house, compared with just 4% for big grocery chains and seven percent for logistics centres. Whitbread, which owns pubs, restaurants and the Premier Inn hotel chain, states it will face an additional tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a result.

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

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

"The cost of a drink 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 added.

Furthermore, Covid-era tax breaks are ending, while hospitality operators are still coping with increases in national insurance and the minimum wage from last year's budget.

"If you tried to design the least helpful financial plan for pubs and consumers, you wouldn't have got far away from what we saw," remarked Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairperson of Camra, the campaign for real ale.

A number within the Labour party think this is a fight they could have sidestepped, not least because of the vital place the local 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, argued: "We pledged for two years to pubs and hospitality businesses that we are going to help you out but then they get hit by this new assessment. We can't have taxes going down for big corporations but up for independent businesses."

Commentators note that Keir Starmer himself has historically been a frequent patron at his local pub, the Pineapple in north London, and regularly mentions their value to neighborhoods. "There's nothing any of us like better than going to the pub for a pint, myself included," the prime minister said in February.

However pollsters liken picking a fight with pub owners to taking on NHS workers in terms of public perception.

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

"For many people the local pub is seen as an important part of the community, even if a good proportion of those same people will seldom drink there.

"The political risk with antagonising pubs is that your opponents will readily accuse you of attacking the core of this country and its history, particularly in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many emotive examples to drive the message home."

'Nothing Personal'

One such instance is Andy Lennox, the publican at the Old Thatch pub in Wimborne, Dorset, and the organiser of the "No Labour MPs" initiative. Lennox says he has handed out notices to nearly 1,000 premises and is mailing 100 more every day.

His action has received support from a number of prominent figures, such as television presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who owns a pub called the Farmer's Dog, and singer Rick Astley, who has a stake in a bar in north London—although the latter has indicated he will not formally bar Labour MPs.

"We have been asking for relief for a considerable period," explained Lennox, who is calling for a short-term VAT reduction. "Ministers is dressing this up as a relief package but that's not what people are seeing, and that is the thing that has angered so many people."

A number within the sector think a protest banning individual politicians is could have unintended consequences. "I'm not sure it's a effective strategy to ban the exact people we should be trying to invite in and lobby," argued Corbett-Collins.

When questioned this week, the government department highlighted the support being offered to hospitality. "We are supporting pubs, restaurants and cafes with the budget's £4.3bn funding. This comes on top of our initiatives to simplify licensing, keeping our cut to alcohol duty on beer from the tap, and capping corporation tax," a official stated.

The publicans, however, are in no mood to compromise, even if turning away MPs