Starmer and Reeves ‘credibility shot’ after pubs tax U-turn, says Badenoch
The credibility of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced a bruising after they were forced to make a dramatic U-turn on their business rates reform for pubs, the leader of the Conservative party has said.
Ministers are set to water down the business rates bombshell slapped on pubs following fierce backlash from the industry, where thousands of landlords barred Labour MPs from their sites.
Treasury officials are set to row back on the tax changes announced in the Autumn Budget, according to multiple reports, after it left many pubs facing a huge hike in their overall bill, despite hospitality firms being offered a 5p cut.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has slammed the latest U-turn from the government, warning continuous “chaotic reversals” had blown a “big hole” in Rachel Reeves’ numbers and made November’s Budget “all but pointless”.
“Anything the government announces is liable to be junked soon after,” Badenoch added.
It marked the latest in a growing list of U-turns from the Labour government, following welfare reform, winter fuel allowances, inheritance tax and key aspects of the workers rights bill.
Starmer stares down record low approvals
A YouGov poll has revealed more people than ever disapprove of the government with net approval slumping to -59 at an all-time low.
Starmer has pledged to fend off any challenges to his leadership in 2026, as Labour braces for a battering at the local elections in May.
The latest business rates blunder adds to a growing pile of government frustrations, with the Treasury claiming it was unaware of how damning the impact would be.
“It’s only since the announcement when we’ve been speaking to individual businesses about how the new rateable values will affect them that we can see it’s not playing out as it should do,” a Treasury source told Sky News.
“There’s a big discrepancy between the significant winners and losers and that’s not how it should be.”
Anna Turley, the chair of the Labour Party, has insisted the forthcoming announcement didn’t amount to a U-turn, but was about “listening, a sign of a government that has been in touch with people….it’s a sign of a confident government”.