You're barred No room at the inn for Labour MPs caught up in pubs row

Labour MPs heading back to their constituencies this weekend will do so with a sense of relief that another turbulent term in British politics is over.

- Kiran Stacey Raphael Boyd

But those hoping to pitch up at their local pub for a restorative pint with colleagues and constituents may find festive cheer in short supply. In fact, some may not be allowed through the door.

For the past few weeks, pubs across the country have been putting up “No Labour MPs” signs in protest at changes to business rates announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in the budget.

For many Labour MPs, the campaign means there is one less place to escape the bruising reality of their party’s unpopularity. Backbenchers say they frequently encounter hostility in public spaces after a difficult first 18 months of government in which the party’s ratings have plummeted.

“It can be hard being the MP of the area you have always lived in,” said one. “The local pub is where we used to go with the kids and just be a normal family. But the last few times we've just ended up being shouted at by other customers. Now I’m not even sure we'll be able to get in.”

That sense of dismay is palpable in a recent video posted by Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East, about being banned from one of his local pubs, the Larder House. “It’s meant to be the joyful season,” he said. “But the Larder House and other businesses with a ‘No Labour MPs’ sticker in the window, they are undermining the inclusive culture that business owners locally have helped to nourish.”

The row threatens to taint the broadly positive reaction to last month’s budget, at which Reeves won the support of backbenchers and the financial markets by raising taxes and scrapping the two-child benefit cap.