Over 1000 Pubs Ban Labour MPs. Gordon Ramsey calls it a ‘bloodbath’.
Is it surprising that over 1000 pubs have banned Labour MPs from their premises? Surely, the wonder is that it has not been more. According to the Daily Telegraph, 212 public houses have closed this year so far, while 1103 closed in 2025.
First came the double-whammy of an increase in the minimum wage and an increase in National Insurance costs for employers. This effectively reduced the number of staff those on the frontline of the hospitality industry could afford. Then there are the well-intentioned protections from day one for new employees which make it very difficult to adjust staffing levels to reflect need.
Add to this the fact that the average business rates bill is set to rise from £3,938 to £9,451 thanks to Covid-relief ending.
The UK’s new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) tax is intended to make manufacturers take responsibility for sustainability and recycling of packaging with a costing of 25p per cordial bottle, for example. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association castigated this exorbitant cost imposed on recycling glass bottles, which is seven times the cost of recycling a plastic bottle. It warned that less environment-friendly packaging would be used – and prices for consumers would rise.
Meanwhile, in its efforts to reduce obesity, particularly among the young, the Government has extended the sugar tax, known formally as the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL), on pre-packaged cans and cartons of drinks.
Then came November’s budget announcing a 3.66% hike in tax on alcohol. A bottle of 40% alcohol-by-volume Scotch is set to rise by 39p at cost. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association said that since the current alcohol duty regime was introduced in August 2023, a bottle of red with had gone up by £1.10 per bottle. British brewers already pay some of the highest rates of duty in Europe and a spokesperson for the British Beer and Pub Association stated that brewers faced a £130m increase in costs across the industry. All of which impact costs for those at the frontline of the hospitality industry.
The British Institute of Innkeeping stated that the Government had promised support “and have instead added more tax and costs, undermining pubs in every community, and the scale of the impact from the wage rises and the business rates increases is in the thousands for these small, essential businesses, threatening their very existence.”
By Christmas 2025, over 1000 pub landlords had decided enough was enough and responded with what seemed to be the only power they had left: ban those who were making their livelihoods impossible.
Anyone who lives in an area that relies on tourism for income can tell you at first hand how Government policies have hit hard, and not necessarily in ways they anticipated. We have over 1,000.000 young people unemployed. How many of them would fare better in job interviews if they had been able to gain confidence as well as pocket money by working in hospitality? Serving in pubs, bars and restaurants has provided a rite of passage for millions, providing experience of the real world and the fundamental life skill of communicating with other human beings.
On 27 January, the government announced that a 15% discount on their business rates will be given to pubs and music venues in England, to take effect from April 2026. This will not be increased for two years. The Conservatives have promised – if they win the next general election – to abolish business rates for pubs and shops on the high street.
In an interview with the London Evening Standard, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey described those in the hospitality industry as “lambs to the slaughter.”
Bottoms up Rachel!