As England prepares for another major tournament, a real sense of excitement is building in pubs across the country.
Our beer gardens are being tidied up, screens are being tested, and our tables are finally being booked. Publicans are hoping football can provide a much-needed boost to an industry that has spent years fighting for survival.
That is why I nearly spat my tea out when I heard Communities Secretary Steve Reed urging councils to ignore the “fun police” and approve as many outdoor screenings as possible this summer.
On the face of it, he is right.
If pubs want to show England matches in beer gardens and outdoor spaces, local authorities should do everything they reasonably can to help make it happen. Football tournaments bring communities together, get people out of their homes and create an atmosphere that cannot be replicated sitting alone on a sofa.
The problem is not what Steve Reed said.
The problem is who he represents.
While Labour ministers are busy presenting themselves as champions of Britain’s pubs, it is their own policies making life increasingly difficult for the hospitality industry.
A successful England run in the World Cup could provide a desperately needed boost for thousands of venues across Britain
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X/ENGLANDYou cannot spend months loading extra costs onto pubs and then expect applause because you have “allowed” us to show football on a big screen. Our Temporary Events Notices would have been approved anyway. I have dealt with licensing for twenty years.
So that is not support: it is pure hypocrisy.
The reality facing publicans today is brutal.
Many of us just about survived coronavirus lockdowns, with restrictions and social distancing rules. We survived taking on debt simply to keep our businesses alive.
While Labour ministers are busy presenting themselves as champions of pubs, their own policies are making life increasingly difficult
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Only last month, I finally finished paying off my Covid bounce-back loan from 2020.
Then came the energy crisis.
My own small back street pub was hit with electricity bills of between £4,000 and £5,000 a month for several months. Like thousands of other operators, any savings that had been built up over the years disappeared almost overnight.
Just as the industry was beginning to regain its footing, Labour arrived promising growth.
What many hospitality businesses got instead were far higher costs.
National Insurance contribution hikes have made employing staff more expensive. Minimum wage increases, while understandable in principle, have added further pressure to already squeezed businesses. Changes to business rates relief have piled even more costs onto an industry that was already operating on wafer-thin margins.
In my own small backstreet pub, the combined impact of two budgets adds up to around £35,000 a year in additional costs.
To cover that, I need to take approximately £80,000 more over the bar every year.
That works out at roughly 14,000 extra pints just to stand still. Thanks, Rachel Reeves.
Not to expand.
Not to improve the business.
Not to employ more staff.
Simply to stand still.
At the same time, customers themselves are under pressure. Household budgets remain stretched, and disposable income is limited. People think twice now before going out.
That makes life incredibly difficult for pubs, bars and restaurants across Britain.
Higher costs, fewer customers.
Which is why this World Cup matters so much.
A successful England run could provide a desperately needed boost for thousands of venues. Packed pubs mean more trade. More trade means more jobs. And more jobs mean more businesses surviving another year.
For many communities, the local pub is about far more than alcohol.
It is called a public house for a reason.
For some older people, it may be the only meaningful conversation they have all day. It is where friendships are formed, where loneliness is eased, and where communities come together.
Pubs matter.
So yes, let us get behind England (and Scotland) this summer.
Let us fill the beer gardens.
Let us support our local independent pubs.
But let us not pretend Labour deserves any credit for it.
If ministers genuinely want to save Britain’s pubs, they should stop congratulating themselves for “allowing” football screenings and start looking at the policies forcing so many publicans to the brink. We need a VAT cut to 10 per cent, like in much of Europe. We also need large business rate discounts similar to those introduced by the Treasury during the pandemic.
Because if the current direction continues, Labour risks being remembered not as the Government that helped Britain’s pubs, but one that finally finished them off.
Come on, England!