Labour won't kill the British pub - but some will still die

The institution is safe for the time being but Budget tax hikes will affect those that are already struggling

- James Moore

Is Labour about to kill off the British pub? It's a question that's being asked, with the government's opponents latching on to a recent Times column written by Jeremy Clarkson. In it, the celebrity, who was recently paid a visit by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, wrote that it was nigh on impossible to make money from his Cotswolds boozer even when it was packed.

Helped no end by the high profile of its owner and the publicity it gets from that, The Farmer’s Dog is a popular venue. But Clarkson said the venture had been a “total disaster” and that it will lose him “a fortune” while causing him to develop “a skin disease from the stress of running it”.

It was actually a rather good-humoured piece, which didn’t mention the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and took aim instead at the light-fingered patrons thieving glasses – not to mention their dubious sanitary habits, which on one occasion required the hiring of specialist cleaners in hazmat suits. And at Brexit – of which Badenoch was a vocal supporter – which has made it tough to find and keep bar staff.

However, it also noted the figure of two pub closures a day nationwide, which plenty of other pub owners have jumped on to suggest that Reeves’s tax raises spell doom for the industry.