It is just after tea-time on Budget day, and my pub is already half-empty. A few hours ago, Rachel Reeves stood up and, in the name of ‘fiscal responsibility’, drove the final nail into what remains of Britain’s hospitality industry. By failing to address the devastation that Labour’s decision to hike employers’ National Insurance did to pubs, restaurants and hotels, it could be game over for hundreds of beloved locals.

Reevesageddon is not just a Budget. It is a requiem. Raise one last pint while you still can

There was little in the way of good news for us publicans in the Budget, but there was plenty to make us worry. Alcohol duty will rise in line with inflation, making the cost of a pint – already too much for many drinkers – even greater. The rise in the minimum wage, by 8.5 per ce

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