Last week, James Fowler, owner of the Larder House in Southbourne, started the movement with a sign on his door barring Labour MPs in protest of the Government’s Budget and the rising burden of business rates.
Fowler said the decision reflects deepening concerns about the sustainability of the sector.
The ‘No Labour MPs’ poster and sticker are available to download on Wonky Table, here.
“Something needs to be done. We are raising our voices and kicking back at the Government. This is a clear direct message back to them by affecting MPs on the ground,” he said.
The action has since gained national traction, with a growing number of operators across the country joining the fight, describing the situation as a tipping point for hospitality.
In total, there are 404 Labour MPs. Below, The MA has rounded up images of Keir Starmer’s 22-strong Cabinet.
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Owner of the Perry Hill pub in south east London, which won Best Pub for Families at this year’s Great British Pub Awards, Phil Sutton, told The MA the his rateable value was expected to rise from £37,200 to £70,000, staggered over the next three years, with a 92% rise next year.
Massive hole
He said: “There may be further relief on this but the Government can’t seem to get their own worked examples and calculators to agree on this so we aren’t holding our breath.”
He added the tax hike would carve a “massive hole” in the businesses profitability.
“We have gone from being in a position where, for the first time since Covid, we were starting to put money in the bank and think about growth.
“This, along with other cost increases, has put paid to that and we are preserving cash wherever we can to ensure we can stay solvent in case any further headwinds come our way.
“We were promised a long overdue reform of business rates, which is certainly what we have got, but they have been changes that will destroy more of the high street and close local pubs”, he continued.
Brutally simple
Meanwhile, managing director of The Three Hills at Barlow in Cambridge, Emma Harrison, said business rates at the award-winning pub will jump by 123% when the current 40% relief is discontinued.
At the same time, the pub faces a substantial rise in minimum wages of 8.5% for 18–20-year-olds, who make up a significant share of the workforce. This week, the managing director wrote to the pub’s local MP to highlight these challenges.
“There is no room left to absorb increases of this magnitude”, Harrison told The MA.
“The outcomes are brutally simple: prices will have to rise sharply, leading to reduced sales and further pub closures, or pubs will close anyway.
“For a sector that contributes so much socially, culturally and economically, these increases are not just unsustainable - they are existential. If the Government does not address the system’s structural unfairness, there will simply be fewer pubs left to tax.”
