Pub Operators Weigh Fresh MP Ban After VAT Campaign Stalls

Licensees are considering a second wave of MP bans, this time aimed at any member of parliament who has not publicly backed a reduction in VAT on hospitality, CLH News understands.

The move is being led by Hospitality Voices, the licensee group headed by Andy Lennox, which previously organised a ban on Labour MPs over rising business rates bills. Lennox told City AM that the group is preparing a new campaign that could involve thousands of pubs nationwide.

The renewed anger follows last month’s Budget, in which the industry’s call to cut VAT on hospitality from 20% to 10% went unanswered. The ask had been championed by chef Tom Kerridge and backed by many operators across pubs, bars and restaurants.

Chancellor John Healey instead confirmed a previously announced 20% reduction in business rates for pubs, and increased alcohol duty by 2p on a pint.

Lennox said the sector felt unheard, and that recent remarks by Treasury ministers and the Chancellor’s decisions suggested a lack of respect for the trade. He argued that sustained lobbying, which has secured support from nearly 300 MPs, had not been enough to shift government policy and that further action was needed.

Hospitality Voices maintains a public tracker of MPs’ positions on a VAT cut. According to the group, 296 MPs have declared support, while 354 have not, among them Andy Burnham and the Chancellor himself. Those 354 would be the potential targets of any ban.

Tensions rose further over the weekend after Treasury minister Emma Reynolds, defending the tax rises, said employers were not “working people”. Lennox, who operates several pubs across Dorset and Hampshire, described the remark as insulting to those who build businesses and create jobs, and said it showed how detached the Treasury was from business.

Because the proposed ban would apply to MPs of any party rather than one, campaigners hope it will attract broader political support than the Labour-only action.

The earlier ban is credited by licensees with helping to secure a £300m business rates relief package, announced by then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves last December.