News Beat
York and North Yorks MPs react to pub business rates U-turn
Luke Charters, the Labour MP for York Outer, welcomed reports that ministers are planning to announce a U-turn on the proposals.
Various sources have said ministers are preparing to water down the plans in the coming days after backlash from the hospitality industry.
Pubs have been facing the prospect of much higher business rates after the chancellor announced plans to end Covid-era discounts in her budget in November.
The government had put in place a £4.3 billion fund to help pubs with the transition to higher rates, but the Press Association reported that it understood more assistance will now be made available after an outcry from the industry.
Sources said Rachel Reeves would announce a package of support in the coming days, likely to include business rates relief and measures to cut licensing red tape, the media agency said.
Ms Reeves is understood to have commissioned work on providing more support for pubs before Christmas, after the budget’s impact on individual sectors began to become clear in government analysis.
“It would appear the government’s moving towards a pub-specific approach to business rates,” Mr Charters said. “This would recognise the unique role pubs play and the pressures they face: a sensible and pragmatic step showing ministers have listened to feedback and are responding well to the voices of local businesses.
“This is particularly welcome after a decade of the Tories sticking their fingers in their ears and pretending they have the answers.”
Mr Charters, who co-owned a cocktail bar in east London before entering politics in 2024, said he understood concerns from landlords “very clearly”.
“Running any local business is a labour of love, but when it comes to pubs, landlords sink their heart and soul into taking on the extra commitment, risk, and responsibility that comes with both staff and customers,” he said. “That’s what makes them such a vital part of the fabric that holds our towns and villages together.”
Mr Charters added: “I sat with the landlord of my local just a few weeks ago to go through their finances, and have been told repeatedly by other pubs that business rates remain one of their biggest pressures.”
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The government’s climbdown came after York Central MP Rachael Maskell confronted Sir Keir Starmer about the issue, warning the prime minster that small enterprises in her constituency would have to close down as the spike in business rates loomed.
“It will mean doors closing and trade ceasing, they just can’t do it,” the Labour MP told the prime minister on Wednesday (January 7).
Meanwhile, Thirsk and Malton MP Kevin Hollinrake, who is also the chairman of the Conservative Party, said the rumoured announcement was “another humiliating U-turn by the government, brought about by the sustained pressure the Conservatives have applied on business rates”.
“We still do not know exactly what the government’s plans look like, but it appears that rates will continue to rise for pubs, and that this package will do nothing for shops, restaurants, hotels and markets across Thirsk and Malton, all of which have also seen an increase in business rates since the budget,” the Conservative MP said.
