Pub landlords are to march on Westminster in protest against a massive rise in business rates that could force them to close. Those taking part in the January 30 rally include Andy Lennox, landlord at the Old Thatch pub in Dorset, who led a campaign to bar Labour MPs from the nation’s drinking dens.
He said: “All the trade bodies and a lot of the bigger organisations are now starting to organise for proper industrial action. There’s a protest planned for the end of the month, and we’re looking into some major kind of industrial action now.” Ash Corbett-Collins, chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, said: “Instead of months of uncertainty and the prospect of thousands of otherwise viable pubs having to close their doors for good, the Prime Minister and Chancellor should give in to pressure, accept the inevitable and announce a rethink now.”
Business rates for the average community pub are to rise by £6,000 under changes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, while 4,800 of the smallest pubs will be hit with a business rates bill for the first time, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.
Ms Reeves was barred from her local pub, the Marsh Inn in her constituency of Leeds West and Pudsey, and Mr Lennox has distributed more than 1,000 stickers saying “no Labour MPs” to establishments that requested them.
Labour MP Rachel Maskell raised concerns with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in Parliament on Wednesday.
Planned new road safety laws, which effectively ban driving after any consumption of alcohol, will cause further hardship for rural pubs, according to some campaigners.
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “It seems this is yet another policy consideration from Whitehall that has not been rural-proofed and will likely have a disproportionate knock-on effect for pubs in the countryside.”
Downing Street said ministers were in talks with the pub trade. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been very clear that discussions with the sector continue and we’re talking to them about what further support we can put in.”
