Reeves banned from her local pub in wake of hospitality tax rises

Rachel Reeves has been banned from her local pub following the impact of spiralling tax rises hitting hospitality.

Landlord Martin Knowles has taken the step of stopping the Chancellor from heading through the doors of the Marsh Inn in her constituency of Leeds and Pudsey after he saw a £2,500 rise in interest rates.

The pub in Pudsey is hailed on TripAdvisor as a “great classic traditional pub”.

Mr Knowles said his customers were happy with the decision to bar all Labour MPs, according to the report in the Mail on Sunday.

Ms Reeves visited the pub following Labour’s victory in July last year after she took on the role.

Mr Knowles said: “I thought I’d ban them all, including the local MP, as they are not doing our industry any favours at all. Our clientele seem quite happy with the ban.”

Hospitality industry leaders have warned the combination of National Insurance costs and a rise in the minimum wage have led to pub closures.

Figures show nearly three pubs a week closed in the six months to October – a rise of 85 per cent on the same period in 2024.

Concerns have been raised that another 2,000 pubs could be lost next year as the Chancellor has indicated there could be further tax rises in 2026.

Mr Knowles said he would only U-turn over his pub ban decision if the Chancellor had a change of heart in terms of lowering VAT and PAYE.

“Our annual business rates have gone up astronomically from something like £28,000 to well over £50,000. It is a disgrace,” he added.

“Every single day is a struggle for us. Other people are shutting the doors on these places and throwing the keys back because they can’t make a living any more. They’re not even breaking even.”

Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said: “Business rates hikes are hammering pubs with eye-watering increases. It is no wonder Rachel Reeves is barred from her local.

“Labour doesn’t understand businesses. They should undo these punishing changes before they drive the Great British pub to extinction.”

It is not the first time that a pub owner in the Chancellor’s constituency has hit out at Ms Reeves, as the landlord of The Britannia pub called on her to “change course and support pubs rather than taxing them to death” in a social media post.

The Treasury refused to be drawn on the Chancellor’s pub ban but a spokesman said: “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 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.”

He added the Government was supporting firms facing rises in their valuations through a cap on business rate bills.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]