The public 'won't forgive' the Government if pubs are allowed to close, MP says

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Charlotte Nichols, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pubs, said that Yorkshire’s pubs were facing a pandemic-level threat to their existence.

It comes ahead of a package of measures to help businesses with energy costs which are expected to be announced on Wednesday by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business Secretary.

“The amount of places where people can congregate with a cross-section of the community has been really cut back in recent decades,” said Ms Nichols, whose sister runs a pub.

“That’s why pubs have such a cherished role in the heart of our communities.”

Earlier this year it was revealed that the number of pubs in England fell to a record low, with fewer than 40,000 still operating, a fall of more than 7,000 compared to a decade ago.

This was in part due to the huge pressures that the pandemic put on businesses, who are now facing a second crisis in two years with rising energy costs for landlords and customers.

“What the pandemic did do is actually really highlight how important they are to British society and culture,” Ms Nichols said.

“A lot of sports teams locally are run out of different pubs, because it was drinkers in those pubs that founded the teams, and they still go there for a drink after their games and to celebrate.

“If you were to map out like every single group that exists in your hometown, you would almost always find some sort of link back to one of your local pubs.”

If pubs close again, along with vast swathes of restaurants or businesses because they can’t pay their energy bills, then it will be a de-facto return to coronavirus lockdowns for many members of the public who rely on them, Ms Nichols argues.

“You can go out legally, but where are you going to go?” she said.

What rising energy bills are now creating is an “existential threat” to pubs which have only just weathered the storm of the pandemic that caused profits to drop dramatically, she adds.

Fullers, which owns 385 pubs across the country, revealed yesterday that it expects its energy bill to more-than-double from £8 million to £18 million this year.

Meanwhile the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) has written an urgent letter to Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, calling for an immediate reduction of VAT on all hospitality food and drink sales, as well as the cancellation of business rates for the rest of the fiscal year.

“There are so many of them that have just been making ends meet, and just getting back to profitability following the pandemic,” said Ms Nichols.

“It's bleak. I don't think the public will forgive any government for not doing enough to save the great British pub.

“The sooner they, you know, learn their value, the better. But, I don't want them to learn it by them closing, and then seeing what they used to have.”