Jeremy Clarkson has banned the entire Labour Party from his pub in furious protest over Rachel Reeves’s tax raid.
The 65-year-old, who previously barred only Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer from The Farmer’s Dog, has now extended the ban to all 404 Labour MPs.
Penrith and Solway MP Markus Campbell-Savours was the only member granted an exemption to the ban after he went against his party’s inheritance tax plans for family farms.
During parliamentary proceedings on the inheritance tax changes, Mr Campbell-Savours told the Commons: “There remain deep concerns about the proposed changes to agricultural property relief.
“Changes which leave many, not least elderly farmers, yet to make arrangements to transfer assets, devastated at the impact on their family farms.”
His rebellion proved solitary, as he cast the sole Labour vote opposing the measures, though more than 30 colleagues chose to abstain from the motion.
Mr Campbell-Savours lost the Labour whip for his act of rebellion.
Writing on X, Mr Clarkson said: “To be clear, I have banned all Labour MPs from my pub, except one: Markus Campbell-Savours.
Jeremy Clarkson joined the growing movement banning Labour MPs from pubs
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“He’s welcome any time. And not just because the Labour Party has now sacked him.”
Clarkson’s decision to enact the ban at the Farmer’s Dog, based in the Cotswolds near Burford, is part of a wider move by pubs across the UK protesting against tax policies affecting the hospitality industry.
The nationwide “No Labour MPs” campaign has attracted support from more than 250 pubs, restaurants and hotels.
The protest originated in Dorset with Andy Lennox, who operates the Old Thatch pub, launching the campaign on Friday.
Jeremy Clarkson, who opened The Farmer’s Dog in August 2024, made one exception to his ban
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Participating venues have displayed posters declaring hospitality businesses are being “taxed out of existence”, calling for VAT reductions to 13 per cent to align with European and Irish rates.
The movement emerged in response to the Budget’s impact on the sector, particularly as pandemic-era business rates relief is scheduled to end in April.
This relief had already been reduced from 75 per cent to 40 per cent before its complete withdrawal.
UK Hospitality, the industry’s trade body, has issued stark warnings about the financial implications of its withdrawal.
The organisation projects average pub business rates will climb by 76 per cent over the next three years, raising concerns about potential job losses running into the thousands.
Mr Clarkson’s ban follows a substantial increase in his establishment’s annual business rates, which have surged from approximately £28,000 to in excess of £50,000.
Speaking to The Sun, Clarkson described the rise as a “disgrace”.
He said: “Our annual business rates have gone up astronomically from something like £28,000 to well over £50,000.”
