More than 150 pubs and restaurants across the country have banned Labour MPs from their venue over rising business rates they say are putting the hospitality industry at risk.
In a campaign coordinated by hospitality lobby group The Wonky Table, participating venues have barred Labour MPs from their properties until they are willing to engage in conversations to deliver an emergency VAT cut for the hospitality sector.
In her Autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced a 5p cut to business rates for the hospitality sectory, which includes pubs and restaurants.
However, the government currently offers 40% relief on business rates to the hospitality sector, a measure it plans to end in March 2026.
Pubs and restaurants are displaying ‘No Labour MPs’ signs in their windows to protest the removal of this business rate relief, which was first introduced during the pandemic at 70%.
The Wonky Table argues that following Labour’s latest budget, only one in ten pubs in the UK will be profitable, and that the government now makes more on a pint than a pub does.
The group is calling for a VAT cut for hospitality businesses to 13%, which is aligned with Ireland and the rest of Europe.
Reeves’s most recent budget has not helped her popularity or that of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with its tax threshold freezes and tacit rises for businesses attracting the ire of many commentators.
According to recent polling data, Reeves is now the most unpopular Chancellor on record, with Starmer pitted against Boris Johnson for the most unpopular Prime Minister on record.
Leave a Reply