![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/matt-lewis.png\")
<\/p>\nPub landlord at The Horseshoe in Chipping Sodbury, Matt Lewis, has slammed Rachel Reeves’s latest Budget, calling it “insulting”.<\/p>\n
Mr Lewis issued a bleak warning, as he told GB News that we will “see more pubs closing” in the new year. <\/p>\n
Speaking to The People’s Channel: “Well, I think so. It\u2019s the Friday before Christmas normally you wouldn\u2019t be able to get near a bar, but clearly you can. <\/p>\n
“That\u2019s a sign of what\u2019s coming in the future. This is going to happen up and down the country, and it\u2019s only going to get worse. We\u2019ll see more pubs closing. Frankly, this is probably as good as it gets.<\/p>\n
“In the last Budget, we saw increases in business rates, the national minimum wage and alcohol duty. What was my reaction? It was insulting. The last two Budgets have been insulting.<\/p>\n
“In the first one, they came out and said they were giving us one penny off a pint. That\u2019s ridiculous. <\/p>\n
“Anyone who understands the struggles pubs are facing knows that means nothing. Then, in the same breath, they put up National Insurance, lowered the threshold and increased the minimum wage.<\/p>\n
“Now, in this Budget, they\u2019re telling everyone they\u2019re going to extend licensing hours and make it easier to open pubs. <\/p>\n
Matt Lewis blasted the Budget as an ‘insult’<\/p>\n
| <\/p>\n
GB NEWS <\/p>\n
“I\u2019d love to know which pubs they spoke to, because no pub is saying that what they need is more time to sell alcohol. Most can\u2019t even afford to open for the full hours they\u2019re already licensed for.<\/p>\n
“What the industry actually needs is urgent action. Cut VAT, cut duty, and give pubs a real chance to survive.”<\/p>\n
In last month\u2019s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves promised “permanently lower tax rates” for more than 750,000 retail, hospitality, and leisure properties.<\/p>\n
But the relief will be paid for by higher rates on properties valued at \u00a3500,000 or more and many pubs will fall into this bracket when they are revalued next year.<\/p>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/people-clinking-beer-glasses.jpg\")
Pubs will lose their 40 per cent rate relief from April, adding to the financial pressure on struggling businesses.<\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
At the same time, pubs will lose their 40 per cent rate relief from April, adding to the financial pressure on struggling businesses.<\/p>\n
This will be replaced by a five per cent discount to the multiplier that calculates their bill, much less than they had hoped for.<\/p>\n
Pubs and bars across England and Wales could be allowed to stay open for longer under new Government plans to overhaul what ministers describe as \u201coutdated\u201d licensing laws.<\/p>\n
A fast-tracked review will examine whether venues should be given greater freedom to serve food outdoors and put on more live music, with the aim of stripping away what the Government says are unnecessary restrictions.<\/p>\n
Landlords, residents and local groups will be invited to contribute to a four-week call for evidence. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the move was about \u201ccutting red tape\u201d and driving footfall to help stimulate economic growth.<\/p>\n
However, opponents have warned that loosening alcohol licensing rules could fuel antisocial behaviour in town centres.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir said pubs and bars were \u201cthe beating heart of our communities\u201d and insisted the Government was committed to helping them succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen our local pubs thrive, so does the economy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pub landlord at The Horseshoe in Chipping Sodbury, Matt Lewis, has slammed Rachel Reeves’s latest Budget, calling it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[113921,748,393,4884,12,1144,712,16,15,6225,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-643280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-across-the-uk","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-northern-ireland","16":"tag-scotland","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-video-news","20":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115749224887979414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}