Labour Members of Parliament returning to their constituencies for the festive break are discovering that the welcome mat has been pulled from some of their most familiar local haunts. A grassroots protest by publicans, furious over the government's recent budget, is seeing signs declaring 'No Labour MPs' appear in windows across the country, explicitly barring elected representatives.
The Budget That Lit the Fuse
The source of the ire is Chancellor Rachel Reeves's autumn budget. The hospitality sector, which includes pubs, had been hopeful for a long-promised overhaul of the business rates system. Instead, the Chancellor left the system fundamentally unchanged, opting to reduce headline rates and offer a £4.3bn support package over three years for retail and hospitality.
Publicans argue this gesture is dwarfed by the impact of a mandatory three-year property revaluation. This revaluation has caused the taxable value of pubs and restaurants to spike sharply from their pandemic-era lows. From next April, rates will rise by 76% for the average pub and a staggering 115% for hotels, compared to just 4% for large supermarkets.
"Literally overnight, the click of a finger, the value of our business has doubled. That's going to be a huge increase for us," said Joe Butler, landlord of the Tollemache Arms in Northamptonshire. He highlighted the direct impact on consumers: "When we first took this pub on 10 years ago, we charged £3.40 a pint. We're now verging on being £7 a pint."
'You're Barred!': The Campaign Goes National
The frustration has crystallised into the 'No Labour MPs' campaign, organised by Andy Lennox, landlord of the Old Thatch in Wimborne, Dorset. He has distributed stickers to nearly 1,000 establishments and is sending out a further 100 daily. The campaign has garnered high-profile support, including from TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
For MPs, the ban cuts deep into community life. "It can be hard being the MP of the area you have always lived in," confessed one backbencher. "The local pub is where we used to go with the kids and just be a normal family. But the last few times we've just ended up being shouted at."
Labour MP for Bournemouth East, Tom Hayes, expressed his dismay in a video after being banned from his local, the Larderhouse. "It's the Christmas season, it's meant to be the joyful season," he said. "But businesses with a 'No Labour MPs' sticker... are undermining the inclusive culture that business owners locally have helped to nourish."
A Political Headache for Starmer's Labour
The row presents a significant image problem for a party that has seen its poll ratings fall from around 34% to 18% in its first 18 months in power. It also creates an awkward tension for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is a known regular at his local, The Pineapple in north London, and often speaks of pubs' vital role in communities.
Pollsters warn that alienating pub owners carries major political risk. "From the Queen Vic to the Rovers Return, pubs have a special place in the British psyche," said Joe Twyman of Deltapoll. "The political risk... is that your opponents will easily be able to accuse you of attacking at the very heart of this country and its history."
Some within Labour believe it is a fight the government should have avoided. Richard Quigley, Labour MP for the Isle of Wight West, said: "We said for two years to pubs and hospitality businesses that we are going to help you out but then they get hit by this revaluation. We can't have rates going down for large multinational companies but up for small restaurants and pubs."
A Treasury spokesperson defended the budget's measures: "We're protecting pubs, restaurants and cafes with the budget's £4.3bn support package. This comes on top of our efforts to ease licensing... maintaining our cut to alcohol duty on draught pints, and capping corporation tax."
However, landlords like Joe Butler are standing firm, even if it means losing MP customers. Referring to his local MP, he stated, "This is not a personal vendetta... This is just a stand that we're taking collectively as an industry." As the new year approaches, Labour's battle with Britain's pubs shows no sign of being called time on.
