'Not Welcome!': Labour's Clash with Public Houses Signals a New Year Headache.

Labour MPs heading back to their local areas this end of the week might feel a sense of respite as a chaotic parliamentary session ends. But, for those hoping to frequent their community tavern for a casual beer, goodwill could be in short supply. In fact, some may realize they are not allowed through the door.

Over the past few weeks, businesses across the country have been displaying signs that state "Labour MPs Not Welcome" in protest to changes in commercial property taxes revealed by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in her most recent budget.

This movement means one fewer escape for many elected officials seeking refuge from the difficult situation of their slumping poll ratings. Representatives now say frequent antagonism in community settings after a rocky first period that has seen the approval numbers plummet from around a third to roughly under a fifth.

"It's challenging being the MP of the constituency you have forever lived in," said one. "That pub is where we used to go with the kids and just be a regular family. But the last few times we've just ended up being verbally abused by other drinkers. 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 Member of Parliament for Bournemouth East, addressing being banned from one of his regular haunts, the Larderhouse.

"It's meant to be a time of joy," he noted. "However the Larderhouse and other establishments with a 'MPs Not Welcome' notice in the window, they are eroding the inclusive culture that business owners have helped to foster." He continued, "We have to get politics off the main street full stop, but particularly at Christmas."

A Cherished Institution in the British Psyche

After a tough times marked by rising expenses, the pandemic, and changing habits, landlords were hopeful the chancellor's statement might bring some support—specifically through a long-promised reform of the business rates system.

However the chancellor disappointed those hopes, keeping the system unreformed and choosing instead to reduce headline rates and pledge £4.3bn over three years in financial support for the retail and hospitality sectors.

While perhaps a gesture of goodwill, the value of that support package has been minimized by the effect of a periodic property revaluation, which has caused the rateable value of pubs and restaurants to increase sharply from their Covid-affected lows.

From next April, rates are set to rise by more than double for the average hotel and 76% for a pub, versus just 4% for big grocery chains and 7% for logistics centres. A major hospitality group, which operates multiple brands, states it will face an additional tax bill of between £40m and £50m as a outcome.

Joe Butler, the landlord at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, said: "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 financial strain on publicans is directly passed on to the price of a punter's pint.

"The cost of a drink is now unaffordable. When we first took this pub on 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now approaching £7 a pint," Butler said.

At the same time, pandemic-related tax breaks are falling away, while sector businesses are still absorbing rises in employer contributions and the minimum wage from the previous budget.

"If you wanted to write the least helpful budget for pubs and consumers, you wouldn't have got far away from what we saw," stated Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairperson of Camra, the consumer organisation.

Many within the governing party feel this is a fight they should not have picked, not least because of the vital role the community pub plays in British culture.

Richard Quigley, the Labour MP for the Isle of Wight West, who also runs a chip shop on the island, argued: "We said for two years to pubs and hospitality businesses that we are going to help you out but then they get affected by this revaluation. We must not see taxes being reduced for large multinational companies but increasing for independent businesses."

Commentators highlight that Keir Starmer himself has often been a frequent patron at his local, the Pineapple in north London, and often references their importance to neighborhoods. "There's nothing any of us like better than going to the local for a drink, myself included," the PM said in February.

But pollsters liken confronting publicans to challenging NHS workers in terms of political risk.

Joe Twyman, co-founder of the polling firm Deltapoll, explained: "In fiction and in fact, pubs have a special place in the British psyche.

"To a lot of individuals the neighborhood inn is perceived to be an integral component of the locality, even if a significant number of those same people will rarely actually drink there.

"The hazard with making an enemy of pubs is that your political rivals will readily accuse you of attacking the foundation of this country and its heritage, especially in rural areas. And they will be able to produce many heartfelt examples to drive the message home."

'Not a Personal Vendetta'

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

His campaign has received support from 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—though the latter has said he will not actually ban Labour MPs.

"We have long sought help for a considerable period," stated Lennox, who is calling for a temporary VAT reduction. "Ministers is dressing this up as a support measure but that's not what people are seeing, and that is the thing that has frustrated so many people."

Some within the industry think a protest banning individual politicians is may be counterproductive. "It's questionable it's a effective strategy to ban the very individuals we should be trying to persuade and influence," commented Corbett-Collins.

When asked this week, the government department spoke of the assistance being made available to hospitality. "We have aided the hospitality industry with the budget's £4.3bn investment. This is in addition to our efforts to ease licensing, keeping our reduction to alcohol duty on beer from the tap, and limiting corporation tax," a official said.

The publicans, nevertheless, are in no mood to compromise, even if alienating MPs