'Entry Denied!': The Government's Dispute with Public Houses Promises a Fresh Year Challenge.

Labour MPs heading back to their constituencies this weekend might feel a sense of relief as a chaotic political term wraps up. But, for those planning to visit their community tavern for a restorative beer, holiday spirit could be in short supply. In fact, some may find they are unwelcome inside.

Over the past few weeks, establishments throughout the nation have been posting signs that proclaim "MPs Barred" in protest to changes in business rates revealed by the Finance Minister, Rachel Reeves, in her most recent budget.

This movement translates to one fewer haven for many elected officials seeking refuge from the difficult situation of their party's unpopularity. Backbenchers now say commonplace hostility in public spaces after a difficult first 18 months that has seen the approval numbers plummet from around 34% to roughly 18%.

"It's challenging being the representative of the constituency you have always lived in," commented 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 drinkers. Now I'm not even sure we'll be able to enter."

This feeling of frustration is clear in a recent video by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, lamenting being refused entry to one of his local pubs, the Larderhouse.

"It's the Christmas season," he said. "However the Larderhouse and other businesses with a 'MPs Not Welcome' notice in the window, they are undermining the welcoming atmosphere that business owners have helped to cultivate." He went on, "Politics must be kept politics off the town centre full stop, but above all at Christmas."

A Cornerstone in the National Identity

After a tough times marked by high costs, the pandemic, and evolving social trends, landlords were hopeful the chancellor's statement might bring some support—namely through a long-promised reform of the commercial tax system.

Yet the chancellor dashed those hopes, leaving the system largely unchanged and choosing instead to reduce headline rates and pledge £4.3bn over three years in financial support for the shops, pubs, and restaurants sectors.

While seemingly a supportive move, the impact of that funding pledge has been minimized by the effect of a three-yearly property reassessment, which has caused the taxable value of hospitality venues to surge from their Covid-affected lows.

Starting from next April, business taxes are set to jump by 115% for the average hotel and 76% for a public house, versus just four percent for big grocery chains and 7% for distribution warehouses. Whitbread, which operates 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 publican at the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire, said: "Literally overnight, the valuation of our business has doubled. That's going to be a huge increase for us."

This burden on publicans is certainly reflected in the price of a customer'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 approaching £7 a pint," Butler added.

Furthermore, pandemic-related tax breaks are ending, while sector businesses are still absorbing increases in employer contributions and the living wage from last year's budget.

"If you wanted to write the most damaging budget for the hospitality sector and its customers, you couldn't have done much worse than what we saw," remarked Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairperson of Camra, the consumer organisation.

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

Richard Quigley, the MP for the Isle of Wight West, who also operates a chip shop on the island, said: "We promised for two years to the sector that we are going to help you out but then they get affected by this new assessment. We must not see taxes being reduced for big corporations but increasing for independent businesses."

Some note that Keir Starmer himself has historically been a regular at his local pub, the Pineapple in north London, and regularly mentions their importance to neighborhoods. "There is little we prefer than going to the local for a pint, myself included," the prime minister remarked in February.

But strategists liken picking a fight with pub owners to challenging NHS workers in terms of political risk.

Joe Twyman, director of the public opinion consultancy Deltapoll, said: "From the Queen Vic to the Rovers Return, pubs have a special place in the public imagination.

"In the public's view the local pub is perceived to be 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 critics will quickly accuse you of attacking the very heart of this nation and its history, especially in the countryside. And they will be able to produce many emotive examples to prove their point."

'A Matter of Principle'

One such example is Andy Lennox, the landlord at the Old Thatch pub in Wimborne, Dorset, and the coordinator of the "MPs Barred" campaign. Lennox says he has handed out stickers to nearly 1,000 venues and is dispatching 100 more every day.

His protest has been backed by several prominent 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 brewpub in north London—although the latter has indicated he will not formally bar Labour MPs.

"We have been asking for help for a years," stated Lennox, who is demanding 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 hospitality trade think a campaign banning individual Labour MPs is likely to backfire. "It's questionable it's a good idea to ban the exact people we should be trying to engage with and speak to," argued Corbett-Collins.

When questioned this week, the government department pointed to the support being offered to the sector. "We have aided the hospitality industry with the budget's £4.3bn support package. This comes on top of our initiatives to ease licensing, keeping our cut to alcohol duty on beer from the tap, and capping corporation tax," a official said.

The publicans, nevertheless, are in little mood to yield, even if alienating MPs