𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Rachel Reeves’s latest u-turn was last night blasted as “too little, too late” to save pubs threatened by a “devastating” hike in business rates. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch warned Labour is “killing” the nation’s pubs as the Government scrambled to hold back public anger.

Labour MPs have been banned from more than 1,000 pubs and Mrs Badenoch has pledged to axe business rates for thousands of pubs if her party returns to power.

The Labour Chancellor is expected to bow to pressure and unveil measures to stop well-loved pubs being shuttered by a surge in rates. But campaigners have denounced this as a “pitiful sticking plaster” and pushed for bold action to save the hospitality sector from a tax bomb.

Landlords faced a crisis when the rateable value of many premises rocketed and plans were laid out to end Covid-era discounts. The Government is expected to unveil a package of support imminently.

But Mrs Badenoch said: “Labour are killing Britain’s pubs. This rumoured u-turn is too little too late. It’s time to back our local pubs.”

Shadow Business and Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith claimed the Budget is “falling apart” with Labour “forced into another screeching u-turn”.

But he warned the “humiliating about-face appears to do nothing for shops, restaurants, hotels and markets which all face a more than 50% increase”.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, pushed the Chancellor to go much further, saying: “This is a pitiful sticking plaster from a Government that claims to support pubs and hospitality while strangling the sector with punishing taxes and costs. After hiking business rates and whacking employers with higher National Insurance, ministers are now offering a token retreat and hoping struggling publicans will be grateful, even as many are being pushed closer to the brink.

“If the Government is serious about saving pubs, it must reverse the business rates grab and scrap the employers’ National Insurance hike in full, instead of drip-feeding half-measures while the sector bleeds out.”

Ash Corbett-Collins, chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, also demanded further action, saying: “Doing nothing and letting pubs go to the wall was never going to tolerated by pub goers, publicans or MPs. The Government must urgently end the uncertainly and announce the extra help and permanently lower bills our locals were promised and need to survive and thrive.”

Andy Slee, chief executive of the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA) said: “The planned alterations to business rates would have had a devastating impact on our pubs and breweries.”

He pressed for a “meaningful long term solution to business rates” and a “proper plan to maintain our pubs into the future”.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Pubs are the backbone of our communities and a huge part of British heritage. Their closures would be a cultural catastrophe as much as an economic one.

“Now what will the Chancellor do the help about the rest of the hospitality sector?”

Kate Nicholls, who chairs UKHospitality, said: “The entire hospitality sector is affected by these business rates hikes – from pubs and hotels to restaurants and cafes. We need a hospitality-wide solution, which is why the Government should implement the maximum possible 20p discount to the multiplier for all hospitality properties.”

Ros Morgan, chief executive of the Heart of London Business Alliance, which represents over 500 businesses, warned that “another temporary sticking plaster solution aimed at just one sector won’t be enough,” adding: “Labour promised fundamental reform of the broken business rates system. We need to level the playing field between online businesses, who pay minimal rates, and high street ones which are taxed based on the rateable value of their property.”

In a further promise of support, Tory leader Mrs Badenoch has pledged to cut pubs’ energy bills by an average of £1,000.

The Government is expected to allow longer opening hours and more pavement drinking. It has not set out the precise details of how pubs will be spared a massive increase in business rates but Ms Reeves commissioned work on more support for the sector before Christmas.

In a clear signal Ms Reeves will come under intense pressure if she does not help other hospitality and entertainment venues, Sacha Lord, who chairs the Night Time Industries Association, said: “This is absolutely a step in the right direction, however it doesn’t go far enough. The Chancellor urgently needs to apply this to the whole sector, not just pubs.

“Small independent restaurants are closing in droves. It would be totally unfair to help one part of the sector, whilst leaving another part high and dry.”

The latest u-turn will heighten concerns that the full impact of policies are not thought through in Whitehall. The Government has had to retreat in the wake of intense anger on the mass removal of winter fuel support for pensioners and the planned increase in inheritance tax on agricultural land.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance said: “Pubs are a vital part of rural life and it is good news if the Government has now understood the damage that its proposals on business rates would have done. If Labour wants to repair its relationship with the countryside, ministers would be well advised to consider the impact of their policies on rural communities before they announce them, not afterwards.”