Reeves’ pubs U-turn: how business rates sparked a revolt, and why ministers are now under fire

15 January 2026

Paul Francis

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Rachel Reeves is preparing a U-turn on business rates for pubs after an unusually public backlash from landlords, trade bodies, and even some Labour MPs. In recent days, pubs across the country have reportedly refused service to, or outright barred, Labour MPs in protest, turning a technical tax change into a political flashpoint about competence, consultation, and whether the government understood its own numbers.

Two pints of frothy beer on a wooden ledge, reflecting on a window. Warm, dim lighting creates a cozy atmosphere.

The row centres on business rates, the property-based tax paid on most non-domestic premises. For pubs, it is often one of the highest fixed costs after staffing and energy. And while the government has argued its reforms were meant to make the system fairer for high street businesses, many publicans say the real world impact is the opposite: higher bills arriving at the same time as wage costs and other overheads are already rising.

What changed and why pubs reacted so fiercely

The immediate trigger was the November Budget package, which set out changes tied to the 2026 business rates revaluation and the planned move away from pandemic era relief. As the details landed, hospitality groups warned that many pubs would be hit by sharp rises because their rateable values, the Valuation Office Agency’s estimate of a property’s annual rental value, had increased significantly at revaluation.

A Reuters report published on 8 January 2026 described the government preparing measures to “soften the impact” of the planned hike after industry warnings that closures would follow. It also noted trade body concerns about elevated rateable values and warned that thousands of smaller pubs could face a bill for the first time.

The anger quickly became visible. ITV News reported on pub owners in Dorset who began banning Labour MPs after the Budget, with the campaign spreading as other pubs joined in. LabourList also reported that more than 1,000 pubs had banned Labour MPs from their premises in protest. Sky News similarly reported that pubs had been banning Labour MPs over the rises due to begin in April.

How business rates are actually calculated, with pub-friendly examples

Business rates can sound opaque, but the calculation is straightforward in principle:

Business rates bill = Rateable value x Multiplier, minus any reliefs

Where it became combustible for pubs is that multiple moving parts changed at once: revaluation shifted rateable values, multipliers were adjusted for different sectors, and pandemic era relief was being reduced or removed.

The government’s own Budget factsheet includes worked examples that show why bills can jump even when headline multipliers look lower.

Example 1: a pub whose rateable value rises modestly: In 2025/26, a pub with a £30,000 rateable value used a multiplier of 49.9p and then deducted 40% retail, hospitality and leisure relief. The factsheet sets out the steps: £30,000 x 0.499 = £14,970, then 40% relief reduces that to a final bill of £8,982. After revaluation, the rateable value rises to £39,000. The pub qualifies for a lower small business multiplier of 38.2p, so before reliefs: £39,000 x 0.382 = £14,898. Transitional support caps the increase, resulting in a final bill of £10,329.

Even here, the bill rises. The cap stops it from rising as sharply as it otherwise would, but it still climbs.

Example 2: a pub whose rateable value more than doubles: In the most politically explosive scenario, the factsheet describes a pub whose rateable value rises from £50,000 to £110,000 at revaluation. In 2025/26, the bill is calculated as £50,000 x 0.499 = £24,950, then reduced by 40% relief to £14,970. In 2026/27, before any relief, the bill would be £110,000 x 0.43 = £47,300. Transitional support then caps the increase, producing a final bill of £19,461.

That is still a meaningful jump in a single year, even with protections. For pubs operating on thin margins, that scale of increase can mean the difference between staying open and closing.

This is why so many publicans argue that the political messaging did not match the lived reality. They were told reforms would support the high street, then saw calculations that delivered higher costs.

What Reeves is now doing to correct it

The government has not published the full final package yet, but multiple reports describe a targeted climbdown.

Reuters reported that a support package would be outlined in the coming days and that it would include measures addressing business rates, alongside licensing and deregulation. LabourList reported that Treasury officials were expected to reduce the percentage of a pub’s rateable value used to calculate business rates and introduce a transitional relief fund. The Independent reported ministers briefing that Reeves was expected to extend some form of relief rather than scrap support entirely from April, after pressure from Labour MPs and the sector.

In practical terms, “softening” the rise can be done in a few ways:

Increasing or extending pub-specific relief so bills do not jump as sharply in April 2026
Adjusting the multiplier applied to pubs within the retail, hospitality and leisure category
Strengthening transitional relief so the cap on year to year increases is tighter
Supplementary measures like licensing changes, to reduce other cost pressures

The direction of travel is clear: the Treasury is trying to stop the revaluation shock from landing all at once on pubs.

The critics’ argument: ministers did not do their homework

The most damaging strand of this story is not the U turn itself, but the allegation that ministers did not understand the impact at the point of announcement.

Sky News has reported internal disquiet about the business rates increase, reflecting wider unease about the political cost of the policy. ITV has also reported pub owners arguing that the “devil is in the detail,” a polite way of saying the announcement did not match the numbers that followed.

Most seriously, reporting summarised from The Times states that Business Secretary Peter Kyle acknowledged ministers did not have key details about the revaluation’s effects on hospitality at the time of the November Budget, and that the property specific revaluations created an unexpected burden for some pubs.

That admission fuels the criticism that this was not simply a policy misfire, but a failure of preparation. The core accusation from critics is straightforward: if the government is reshaping a tax system built on property values, then the people in charge should have had a clear grasp of what the valuation changes would do to real businesses. If they did not, they were not doing the job properly.

Even if ministers argue the valuation process is independent, the political reality is that pubs heard one message, then saw another outcome. The result has been a crisis of trust that a late rescue package may soften, but not erase.

What this episode tells us about tax policy and trust

Pubs are not just businesses. They are community anchors and cultural institutions, which is why this backlash travelled so quickly from accountancy jargon to front-page politics.

Reeves’ U turn may yet prevent the worst outcomes for some pubs. But the episode has exposed a deeper vulnerability: when the government announces complex reforms without convincing evidence, it understands the knock on effects, and the backlash is not only economic. It becomes personal, symbolic, and politically contagious.

If the Treasury wants to draw a line under this, it will need to do more than patch the numbers. It will need to convince the public and the businesses affected that decisions are being made with full visibility of the consequences, not discovered after the revolt begins.

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Ozzy Osbourne: From Birmingham Teenager to Heavy Metal Legend

Paul Francis
Jul 23, 2025
3 min read

Ozzy Osbourne, born John Michael Osbourne, passed away on 22 July 2025 at age 76. He was surrounded by his family in his native England, leaving behind a legacy that changed music forever.

Two musicians on stage, one singing into a mic, the other playing guitar. Dark setting with blue lights and "Laney" amplifiers visible.

The Birth of Heavy Metal

Raised in the industrial city of Birmingham, Ozzy co‑founded Black Sabbath in 1968. With guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, they created a darker, heavier sound unlike anything heard before. Their 1970 debut album Black Sabbath, followed by Paranoid and Master of Reality, laid the blueprint for what became known as heavy metal.

Ozzy’s haunting vocals and the band’s ominous imagery struck a chord with listeners and alarmed parents, giving birth to a cultural phenomenon. Songs such as Iron Man, Paranoid and War Pigs remain genre touchstones.

Solo Career and Wild Behaviour

Black Sabbath fired Ozzy in 1979 after years of missed rehearsals and substance issues. He rebounded with his solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz (1980), which included the anthem Crazy Train. His follow‑up Diary of a Madman continued his solo success.

Ozzy also became infamous for outrageous acts. In 1982 at a show in Iowa he bit the head off a bat, believing it to be a toy. He was hospitalised and given rabies shots . A year earlier he had bitten the head off two doves during a CBS Records meeting. Another infamous story from a Motley Crüe tour says he snorted a line of ants off a hotel floor in a bid to outdo his rock‑star reputation.

Despite the chaos, Ozzy said in 1992, "All the stuff onstage, the craziness, it's all just a role that I play, my work; I am not the Antichrist; I am a family man".

Ozzfest and Reality TV Fame

In 1996 Ozzy and his wife Sharon launched Ozzfest, a touring heavy metal festival that ran almost every year through 2008, and later returned in select years into the 2010s. It gave exposure to many now‑major metal bands.

Ozzy had a career resurgence in the early 2000s, starring with his family in MTV’s reality series The Osbournes (2002–2005), revealing his chaotic but warm domestic life in Hollywood. He duetted with daughter Kelly on a version of the Sabbath song Changes in 2003.

Reunion with Black Sabbath

Ozzy reunited with Black Sabbath for short appearances in 1992 and then formally in 1997, touring and releasing the Reunion album. The original line‑up returned again in 2011–2013 for the album 13 and a world tour. Their final proper tour, The End Tour, ran from 2016 to early 2017, concluding in Birmingham.

Final Concert: Back to the Beginning

On 5 July 2025, Black Sabbath’s original members reunited for a final, charity concert at Villa Park in Birmingham, billed Back to the Beginning. Ozzy performed from a throne due to Parkinson’s and spinal complications and opened with, "Let the madness begin".

He told the crowd, "You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart". The festival featured many acts he had inspired, including Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer and Alice in Chains.

The event raised around £140 million ($190 million) for Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorns Hospice. Ozzy’s son Louis described the night as “mindblowing” and said he was moved to tears by his father’s performance.

eath and Legacy

Less than three weeks later, Ozzy died peacefully at home on 22 July 2025, surrounded by loved ones. His family released a statement saying, "It is with more sadness than mere words can convey…".

Tributes poured in from peers, fans and generations influenced by him. Elton John called him a huge trailblazer and one of the funniest people he ever met. James Hetfield of Metallica said, “Without Sabbath, there would be no Metallica”.

He was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, first with Black Sabbath in 2006 and then as a solo artist in 2024. Other honours include the UK Music Hall of Fame, the Ivor Novello Lifetime Award, five Grammies, and Classic Rock’s Living Legend prize.

Not Bad for a Lad from Birmingham

Ozzy Osbourne transformed from a factory‑town teenager into the founder of heavy metal, a global solo star, and a figure embraced by popular culture. His music changed the face of rock, his persona personified rebellion, and his family life revealed a man both absurd and endearing.

From biting bats and snorting ants, to building an empire of festivals and redefining fame through reality TV, Ozzy lived fast and gave more. His farewell in Birmingham brought the band home, earning hundreds of millions for charity and offering a final salute to the fans who had shaped him.

Ozzy once said survival was his legacy. In life and in music, he never bowed down, he never stopped performing, and he will be remembered as rock’s Prince of Darkness, a survivor to the very end.