A publican has hailed Nigel Farage’s plan to save British pubs, declaring he and his party are “all welcome” in his Bath pub.
Speaking to GB News, landlord Rod Humphries threw his support behind the Reform UK leader’s support package and his party’s message that “pubs are valuable”.
The Reform UK leader’s five-point plan, set to be announced on Tuesday, includes a £3billion tax relief package designed to rescue Britain’s struggling pub industry.
Mr Farage’s plan proposes slashing beer duty by ten per cent from its current rate of 49p, with patrons seeing around 5p knocked off the cost of their pint.
Celebrating the support plan, Mr Humphries told the People’s Channel: “Reform are all very welcome. Frankly, they’re all practically useful, and also, they send a message that pubs are valuable.
“We feel genuinely beleaguered. We feel under pressure and undervalued, so that alone is really good.”
Asked by host Miriam Cates how the drop in pint costs will help his business, he said: “So the rates are a big issue, as you know. National Insurance is a very big issue, and that’s something we fear coming down the tracks in April.
“To be honest, we employ a lot of people and our staff costs can easily kill us and downgrade our businesses because, of course, we need to employ people to serve beer, and anything that puts pressure on that is a problem.”
Nigel Farage has been backed to save British pubs after unveiling his latest plan
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GB NEWS / GETTY
Offering a direct plea to Mr Farage, the publican asked the Reform UK leader: “If I’m allowed, can I say to Nigel, could he have a look at the minimum wage as well? Because that’s a big problem for us.
“What a lot of people don’t know is we have structures within our businesses, there are gaps. People who take more responsibility get paid more. When you push up the bottom, you push everything up because you have to maintain the gap.
“So an increase in the minimum wage can actually have massive knock on effects for for the rest of our staff, it’s a forced pay rise effectively for everybody in the business which can be absolutely appalling.”
Agreeing with Mr Humphries’s argument, Miriam said: “I think that is a really good point. The minimum wage sounds great in theory, but it has squeezed the difference between entry level jobs that I think school leavers can do and more responsible jobs.
The Reform leader’s five-point plan, announced on Monday, proposes slashing beer duty by ten per cent | GETTY
“And so people are not motivated to get promotions, and businesses can’t afford to employ young people.”
Co-host Andrew Pierce concluded: “So 18-year-olds and 19 or 20-year-olds have no work.”
Reform has also vowed to halve the current 20 per cent VAT rate across the entire hospitality sector, a move it argues would establish greater tax parity with supermarkets where food remains VAT-exempt.
The announcement has been made less than a week after Rachel Reeves offered pubs a temporary 15 per cent discount on business rates, part of her Budget U-turn.
Rod Humphries asked Nigel Farage on GB News to consider changes to the minimum wage
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GB NEWS
Despite the relief, figures within the hospitality sector have warned that the Chancellor’s measures do not go far enough to prevent further closures.
However, Reform UK’s ambitious rescue scheme would begin at £2.29billion in its inaugural year, before rising to £2.9billion by year four.
Lee Anderson, the Reform MP set to detail the rescue plan, declared that his party held the solution to “end the pubs crisis”.
Mr Anderson said: “The loss of one pub is not just the loss of livelihood for a landlord, or the loss of a local employment hub. The loss of one pub is a loss to all of us as inheritors of a tradition dating back to Roman rule.”