00:00This is one of the clearest symbols of how UK voters feel about Keir Starmer, their Prime Minister.
00:05It's a protest against a huge hike in business rates that would see taxes on pubs go up by an average of 76% across the next three years.
00:14So I've come down to my local to find out more.
00:16Now, the revaluation has hit all businesses across the high street hard,
00:20but there's a reason why pubs are particularly toxic for this Labour government.
00:24The party of government does not want to push more working class voters that traditionally make up its support base
00:30into the arms of Reform UK and its leader, Nigel Farage.
00:34And that's exactly what could happen if pubs are forced to shut their doors for good because of the tax rises.
00:40The backlash got so bad that Labour MPs couldn't go to the pub over Christmas.
00:45Even Chancellor Rachel Reeves' local pub, The Marsh Inn in Pudsey, wouldn't let her through the door.
00:50Guess what? Eventually, they backed down.
00:52Now, I like a pint as much as the next person, so I'm not sorry that they've given way.
00:57But it does mean that yet again this government has U-turned rather than defending an unpopular policy.
01:04And that's a dangerous place for a Prime Minister to be in.
01:06We've seen this playbook before.
01:08Keir Starmer doesn't want to put up taxes.
01:10He doesn't want to borrow more, so he tries to cut spending.
01:14But when push comes to shove, he doesn't seem to have the stomach to see it through.
01:18The pub U-turn follows reversals on winter fuel tax.
01:21Welfare reform, inheritance tax on family farms and the two-child benefit cap.
01:27The message to voters is clear.
01:29Make enough noise and this government will crumble.
01:31Each U-turn creates a hole elsewhere.
01:34All this at a time of weak economic growth and calls for defence spending to rise.
01:38Picking your battles is a golden rule of government.
01:41Because one thing worse than an unpopular policy is announcing an unpopular policy,
01:46retreating and then leaving your voters disliking you anyway.
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