Jeremy Clarkson joins hundreds of pub landlords in banning Labour MPs
Jeremy Clarkson has joined hundreds of landlords banning Labor MPs from their pub in response to Rachel Reeves’ budget.
The TV presenter said Sir Keir Starmer would not be welcome when his pub opened last year but has since extended the ban to all Labor MPs after the annual business rates bill soared from £28,000 to more than £50,000.
The ban is an extension of the “#taxedout” campaign launched by UK Hospitality.
Allen Simpson, chief executive of UK Hospitality, warned that the average pub’s business rates would actually increase by 76 per cent following the chancellor’s changes.
“We will see job losses and closures,” he said.
It also comes as anger has also emerged over the increase in employers’ contributions to national insurance in Ms Reeves’s first budget; This increase resulted in two consecutive inflationary increases in minimum and living wages.
Additionally, some people, such as the former Top Gear presenter, are angry about the “family farm tax”, which extends inheritance tax to farms for the first time.
Mr Clarkson, who previously hosted Tory leader Kemi Badenoch at The Farmer’s Dog pub, said in a post on X (formerly Twitter): “To be clear, I have banned all Labor MPs from my pub except one: Markus Campbell Savors. Always welcome.”
“And not just because Labor sacked him.”
Mr Campbell Savors, MP for Penrith and Solway, was recently suspended from the parliamentary Labor Party for voting against the government on the family farm tax.
The Three Colts pub in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, also posted an image of the phrase “No Labor MP” shared by the campaign, saying: “After these blatant lies about the appalling Budget and Business rates, we join pubs up and down the country.”
Hospitality owner and former CBI Entrepreneur of the Year Steve Perez said: Great Britain News: “We’re out of taxes! You can’t keep paying taxes to this sector over and over again!”
Old Thatch landlord Andy Lennox told the BBC: “Without this intervention pubs would have faced a 45% rise in bills next year. We’ve reduced this to just 4 per cent.”
“We have also maintained the cut on draft beer taxes, eased licensing rules on pavement drinks and events and capped corporation tax.
“These measures show that we support hospitality rather than abandon it.”
He continued: “Everyone is fed up with the Labor government not listening to us and instead giving us more taxes.
“What really pisses people off is that they act like it never happened, like someone pushed the wrong button and instead of taxing Amazon and the warehouses, they’re taxing us.
“We’ve been pleading with our lawmakers for years because people are leaving their jobs, and it’s not because it’s a bad job, it’s because they’re taxed to the point of oblivion.”
Wonky Table, which represents more than 1,000 hospitality businesses, posted images of a “No Labor MP” sign and added: “Labour has forced us into oblivion in two successive budgets. We’ve tried to participate; we’ve tried to explain. They just don’t listen, so we don’t serve until they listen.”
Tom Hayes, the Labor MP for Bournemouth East, where at least 250 pubs took part in the campaign, released a video reacting to “Non-Labour MPs”.
He said: “The Christmas season is supposed to be a joyous season, but Larder House and other businesses with “No Labor MPs” stickers in their windows undermine the inclusive culture that business owners help foster locally.
“My job has become a million times harder because if I can’t talk to business owners, I can’t beat the drum for jobs with the Chancellor because they’re forbidding me from doing that.”
But there are concerns among Labor MPs about the hospitality industry.
At treasury questions, Labor Norwich South MP Clive Lewis expressed concerns about a city that, according to local legend, once had a pub every day of the year.
He said: “After this Budget, many pub owners (small and medium-sized businesses) are telling me we haven’t gone far enough and many of them will go under. They need more support, and they need it soon. “If the changes come through, I’m afraid there will be no such word in Norwich; we will have almost no pubs.
“Can’t we put more of a burden on pub companies and large corporations who need to pay their fair share, rather than small and medium-sized businesses and small pub landlords who can’t pay their fair share?”
Hospitality Industry Council member Steve Alton, who backed the campaign and shared a video promoting the ban to Labor MPs, said: “Pubs and hospitality operators are being pushed to the brink by unfair taxes. Our members’ insight shows that less than 1 in 10 will be profitable after more taxes are taken out of the budget, including Business Rates bills rising, despite government promises. Urgent action is needed.”
Independent It sought comment from the government and Labor.
