Poole in Dorset, a millionaire's playground, has some of the most expensive real estate in the UK and is known as the 'Palm Beach of Britain'.
Away from the yachts and villas of Sandbanks, Poole is also a beer drinker's paradise, with 58 pubs in the parliamentary constituency alone.
But now many pub landlords in Dorset have joined a bitter backlash against rises in business rates of up to £30,000 November Budget by Rachel Reeves.
It is claimed that up to 1,000 publicans across the UK have even banned Labor MPs from their pubs after the Chancellor scrapped a 40% discount introduced in the wake of the coronavirus crisis from April next year.
Image: iStock
The row over increases, which has been brewing since the Budget, culminated in a clash between Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer in the final Prime Minister's Questions of 2025.
“He gave his word that he would help pubs,” the Tory leader said.
“Yet his budget means they face a 15% increase in business rates. Will he be honest and admit that his taxes are forcing pubs to close?”
The Prime Minister responded that the temporary relief introduced during the coronavirus crisis – a program that the Conservatives introduced and Labor supported, he said – had come to an end.
“But it was always a temporary plan that came to an end,” he said.
“We have now introduced £4 billion of transition relief.”
Mark and Michael Ambrose, father and son co-landlords of The Barking Cat, said the increases were a “pub destroyer”.
But at the Barking Cat Ale House in Poole, which is facing a rise in business rates of almost £9,000 a year, father and son co-landlords fear the rises could lead to the end of orders for many pubs.
“We're about average at 157%, but we have lots of local pubs up 600% and another up 800%,” Ambrose senior Mark told Sky News.
“It's a pub destroyer. Pubs can't survive increases like that. It's not viable. Most pubs are barely making ends meet anyway. Add in these massive increases and the profit margins are wiped out.”
“We're fighting as is. You can't make such an increase and expect companies to be successful.”
“Fortunately, customers understand. But they still don't want to have to spend 30 or 50 pence more per pint.”
Son Michael added: “It's all backwards. It's really these larger pub businesses and supermarkets that are facing higher taxes. We can't deal with it. They can.”
Michelle Smith, landlady of the Poole Arms, the city's oldest quayside pub dating back to 1635, said: “Our prices per value are set to rise by £9,000 in April so that's quite a deal.”
Michelle Smith, landlord of The Poole Arms, said all of her prices are rising
“And we just had a rate hike too,” she added. “So our rates have already increased by over £1,000 a month last April, so another hit is really quite significant.”
“Prices definitely have to go up, with all the different price increases we have everywhere: business rates, wage increases, beer from the breweries is going up. Everything is going up.”
Neil Duncan-Jordan, who became Poole's first-ever Labor MP last year, supports the publicans and has written to the Chancellor calling for a rethink. He said he was prepared to vote against the tax increase in the House of Commons.
“You have to listen,” he told Sky News.
“They need to listen to consumers, to publicans and social club operators, to the issues they face and the impact these changes are having.”
Pint prices will continue to rise unless the government makes changes
Mr Duncan-Jordan said he was prepared to support an amendment to the Finance Bill, which turns the budget into law and had its second reading in the House of Commons last week.
Despite being suspended for four months earlier this year for his rebellion against welfare cuts, he said: “I just discussed this with some MPs this morning and I'm happy to support them. Sometimes you just have to say what you think is right.”
As chancellor, Ms Reeves has regularly raised a glass to pubs and promised to protect them from rising costs.
But Sir Keir has faced the wrath of a publican before, when he was thrown out of a Bath pub by an anti-lockdown publican during the COVID-19 crisis.
This time, without the Chancellor making a U-turn on tariff increases for businesses, publicans fear the Government will thwart their plans.
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