Publican hands Rachel Reeves final crunch deadline for business rates U-turn before owners take industrial action

Following reports of a business rates U-turn, Ms Reeves is yet to confirm or announce any aid for Britain's hospitality industry.

Instead, the Chancellor flew solo to the World Economic Forum where she rubbed shoulders with the world's leaders without Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Discussing the situation facing business owners, Mr Lennox told GB News: "I've kind of lost count how many people are actually banning Labour MPs from pubs now. But ultimately we are getting to a stage now where we have been waiting about 10 days, maybe a little bit longer, and still nothing.

"And whilst we've been still campaigning and still saying we need support, we still haven't got anywhere or any kind of information from the Chancellor, and now obviously she's swanned off to Davos."

Asked for his verdict on Ms Reeves's decision to go to Davos, Mr Lennox said: "I think it just shows the state of affairs of the country, doesn't it?

"We need to be concentrating on fixing Britain and getting this rates relief thing sorted as soon as possible. Every day that she's out in Davos, that's six hospitality businesses that are going bust."

Asked by host Martin Daubney "how long" the Chancellor has before publicans need a "deal on the table", Mr Lennox revealed: "Look, every day, six hospitality businesses are closing. That's hundreds of jobs every single day that we're losing.

"We've basically turned around and said, pretty much next Wednesday is kind of like that deadline point where we're saying we need to have something on the table, that we can see that there is actually action being made, or we're going to have to start looking at basically what more industrial action we need to take."

As Martin worked out that around "18 pubs" will be closing while Ms Reeves is away in Davos, Mr Lennox responded: "Yeah, that's six hospitality venues every single day. And if you imagine that every single one of those employs 10 people, you can tot up the amount of jobs that basically we're losing every single day.

"This U-turn was announced nearly two weeks ago. It's about 11, 12 days. Think how many hospitality businesses have gone by since then."

Weighing in on Labour's war on pubs, Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin has blamed Chancellor Rachel Reeves's fiscal decisions on the surging costs he has faced.

Mr Martin revealed that costs climbed £45million higher than expected during the opening 25 weeks of its financial year.

Hitting out at the Chancellor, he said: "Costs have been higher than anticipated, with energy, wages, repairs and business rates, for example, increasing by £45million in the first 25 weeks.

"If the current sales momentum continues, the company currently anticipates a full year trading outcome slightly below that achieved in the 2024-25 financial year."

The Chancellor has signalled relief for pubs is on the way, however, the Government has yet to outline the specifics of what a likely support package will look like for publicans.

Ms Reeves said of supporting British pubs: "I think that people can see that the biggest impact and the biggest concern right now is around pubs.

"Some of the smallest businesses, particularly some cafes, don't pay any business rates at all because they're not big enough to do so."

In reaction to these reports, the British Bar and Pub Association stated: "News that the Government is going to look again at business rates increases is potentially a huge win for pubs across the country and shows Government have not only listened to our concerns but acted."