Hundreds of pubs, including at least one in the Chancellor’s constituency, have barred Labour MPs as a campaign against rising costs gathers pace.
The protest, mainly against increases in business rates, comes as a British Institute of Innkeeping survey found 80% of pubs will cut staff hours, 42% will make staff redundant and 71% will increase food prices.
Trade body UK Hospitality has warned that business rates for the average pub will increase by 76% after the Chancellor’s changes, which could lead to some closures.
The SNP has branded the Prime Minister “No Cheer Keir” thanks to cost increases such as the rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions in the 2024 budget.
Steve Alton, CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping, said: “The Prime Minister stated that ‘Pubs…are the beating heart of our communities. When our locals do well, our economy does too.’
“We need Government to urgently reverse their decision on taxing our pubs out of existence and deliver meaningful change to the unsustainable levels of tax they already face, before it is too late.”
SNP MP Chris Law, has demanded the Labour Government reverse the rise to employers’ National Insurance Contributions and support pubs and costumers this festive period.
He said: “No cheer Keir has put a premium on the price of a pint thanks to his disastrous budget.”
Andy Lennox, a publican in Dorset and the organiser of the campaign, said if a Labour MP came in for a pint over Christmas, he would demand they “don’t come in”.
“We’ve done enough talking”, he said. “We’ve had letters hand-delivered to the chancellor. We’ve told the chancellor what we need. We need an emergency VAT cut to 13% now.
“Until that happens, this is going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. The vast majority of everybody I know is either going bust, struggling, or on their last leg.”
Mr Lennox said his pub made revenue of £1.6 million last year but only £50,000 in profit, not including £25,000 worth of repairs he had to make to the premises.
Jeremy Clarkson, who opened the Farmer’s Dog on his Diddly Squat farm, announced he had joined the campaign last week.
He wrote on X: “To be clear, I have banned all Labour MPs from my pub, except one: Markus Campbell-Savours. He’s welcome any time. And not just because the Labour Party has now sacked him.”
Mr Campbell-Savours, the MP for Penrith & Solway, was suspended from the party after he voted against taxing inherited farmland.
The Treasury insisted it was helping the hospitality trade. “We’re protecting pubs, restaurants and cafés with the budget’s £4.3 billion support package. Without this support, pubs would face a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year,” it said.
“Because of the support we’ve put in place, we’ve got that down to just 4%. This comes on top of our efforts to ease licensing to help more venues offer pavement drinks and put on one-off events, maintaining our cut to alcohol duty on draught pints, and capping corporation tax.”
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