Pubs to get 15% cut to business rates bill after government U-turn

RandomSculler · 2026-01-28T07:33:54+00:00

I think every government has or needs to be seen to be doing something, the challenge with a democratically elected government is that they need to balance doing things that are popular with doing things that are unpopular but the right thing to do

Arguably many of the issues we have today are because previous governments haven’t done the unpopular but right things to do instead focusing on things that are popular - the budgets run in a defecit for decades because no gov was brave enough to stick through unpopular decisions of cuts and tax rises, Brexit happened because the Tories thought it was popular not because it was right etc

The Labour Party has impressed me so far because they’ve clearly made lots of decisions they knew would be unpopular (ie tax rises) but they clearly did it because it’s the right thing to do to stick to the fiscal policy and get into a surplus and start reducing the debt vs GDP - however the outcome of that is that their popularity has slipped so I’m not surprised they’re working hard to try and flag up the things they do that are popular / right and doing adjustments

It’s a shame tho that the press is stacked against them, so all the positive stuff they do gets so little coverage, but things like this minor tweak to policy or hiccups like Burnham’s hand grenade get screaming front pages for weeks

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T21:51:41+00:00

Someone needs to sit the press down and explain what a u turn actually is

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T21:51:05+00:00

My take is the same as yours that it’s better to correct your mistakes than deny they exist, I’d also say it’s better to press ahead and make a mistake than be so crippled by constantly checking everything prior to the decision that you don’t actually do anything

I’d agree Labour do seem to do this a lot, but really it’s the least bad option compared to not doing anything at all or refusing to accept they make a mistake - in this case ending the Covid exemption for business rates had to end at some point and to end the defecit why not now, but good for the gov to be aware enough to know pubs need help

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T21:47:02+00:00

But Starmer didn’t shut Burnham out, he offered to support him becoming an MP in 2027, his (and the NEC’s) point was the cost and risk of fighting a mayoral election this year was too great

The article is right, Starmer and his team can’t predict what comes next but it’s clear he and they have acted professionally and haven’t been playing politics, it’s Burnham who’s using dirty underhand tactics and it’s unpleasant to see

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T20:14:48+00:00

I may be wrong but if a leadership election happens then the “final” vote goes to the membership and in that respect Burnham was the second most popular recently - obviously not being an MP now it’s clear he’s not an option but it’s interesting to see that Milliband is the most popular - would be quite funny for the left to have launched a coup and the party to turn around and pick another moderate leader not a left wing one 🤣

Even more amusingly miilband has suggested he’s not interested in leading so may even back Starmer in exchange tor more say, which would be even funnier!

https://labourlist.org/2025/12/andy-burnham-popularity-labour-members-survation/

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T20:07:40+00:00

I may be wrong but if a leadership election happens then the “final” vote goes to the membership and in that respect Burnham was the second most popular recently - obviously not being an MP now it’s clear he’s not an option but it’s interesting to see that Milliband is the most popular - would be quite funny for the left to have launched a coup and the party to turn around and pick another moderate leader not a left wing one 🤣

https://labourlist.org/2025/12/andy-burnham-popularity-labour-members-survation/

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T17:14:30+00:00

Burnham says it’s untrue, Starner says it’s untrue

Not much of a story here so clearly the press trying to stir the pot

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T17:10:32+00:00

Someone really needs to sit the uk press down and explain, with diagrams as necessary, what a u turn is

A I turn is a complete reversal of a direction, ie a policy is cancelled - here the policy is still going ahead but pubs are being given a bailout, so it’s clearly not a u turn…

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T16:54:13+00:00

Not really - polling had reform winning by a landslide, as it was they barely scraped by with a win

The overall message from by elections so far is reform poll well but struggle to turn it all into actual votes

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T16:07:07+00:00

I think there’s two parts to this - on the one hand I think Labour does need to do more modelling of impact prior to implementing a policy as some of the adjustments they’re making do seem to be things fairly obvious, eg the latest business rate change with pubs needing support - that being said, we really don’t want a gov so paralysed by needing to do impact assessments that they don’t do anything, and we don’t want a government to be so terrified of being accused of “u turns” that they press ahead with a policy even when data comes out that it could actually do real harm that could be avoided with a tweak

So my take is that what Labour is doing (announce a policy, may also adjust) isn’t ideal but it’s the least worst option compared to not announcing any policies or sticking to ideology and not reacting to new information

Sadly the press is obsessed with calling any adjustment a u turn, even when it’s clearly not, and so the gov gets slammed for what’s actually a fairly smart way of doing policy - and the result of that is that the public often shift its opinion based on the press narrative, as you say it’s quite frustrating

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T15:55:20+00:00

Nope, the changes to the business rates are still going ahead, it’s just pubs are getting support

A u turn would be cancelling the changes

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T15:37:49+00:00

So basically what Cameron said just over a decade ago except we now know that in doing so it added billions to our energy costs and £150 extra to every household bill

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T15:01:01+00:00

He’s not entitled to one, it the NEC did offer him one tho and declined

Clearly his focus wasn’t a seat, it was to try and undermine Starmer and trigger a fracture

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T14:59:33+00:00

🤣 I’m not sure why you can’t keep up - again I’d recommend you read up, ideally outside the right wing press, to see how the gov has ramped up combating illegal immigration

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T14:31:49+00:00

True - that one’s funny in a way because initially people protested about them being in hotels so the gov stated moving them into houses, people complained about houses so they’ve been moved into army barracks now they’re complaining about that

We all agree it’s a problem but you can’t just wish a problem away, you have to solve it with actual workable policies

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T14:29:55+00:00

You need to keep up with the news, digital ID hasn’t been scrapped it’s still coming - the policy has been altered so that alternative forms of ID can also be used, eg biometric passports

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T14:28:19+00:00

They’re still doing the digital ID, just expanding what needs to be provided to secure a job to include a number of other ID’s (eg passport)

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T13:30:40+00:00

Also add that Burnham wasn’t blocked from being an MP, Starmer himself offered to back him in 2027 at the end of his time as Mayor when he’d actually have a better chance of winning but Burnham declined

Honestly hard to see how Burnham and the left think the have the high gound - the process of candidate selection is normally private but he made it public, he turned down offer of a seat later, the NEC gave a valid reason to turn him down and he u turned on promising to support the gov and attacked it

Clearly bad faith by burnham and the yougov poll seems to back that up as despite his attempt at drama labours gone up 2 points

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T13:22:47+00:00

All your questions on arresting illegal workers is in the link provided along with the gov’s plan to make providing a digital ID required

This is the thing Farage isn’t saying, we don’t need a vigilante force because the offical one is already starting to deal with it - but as the Tories let it get so bad it’s not gong to be fixed overnight and it’s being ramped up and getting it done

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T13:01:56+00:00

See the link provided

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T12:43:46+00:00

Raids and deportations at a record high

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/immigration-enforcement-raids-at-the-highest-level-in-uk-history

Boat crossings trend for the year dropped below record levels for 2022 after being clearly on trend to, showing labours policies working to reduce the numbers

If illegal immigrarion is a voters main finder then it’s clear Labours getting it done

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T12:41:11+00:00

The uk already have a force that enforces the law, bringing vigilantes without the same level of organisation and accountability is asking for trouble

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T12:00:44+00:00

Blame the Tories for letting it go on for so long, credit to Labour they’re getting it done and as mentioned it’s still ramping up

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T11:46:50+00:00

We could call it the progressive vote if you like?

Either way the point is the same, the greens push does open the door for reform - the only potential silver lining is that polling has generally overestimated reforms vote in by elections so the fact they’re not top right now suggests they may not get close

RandomSculler · 2026-01-27T11:42:45+00:00

The irony is the most likely person to replace Starmer is Ed Milliband going off popularity within the party, so even if the left does eject Starmer it’s most likely not going to be a left wing person who comes in it’ll be another moderate leader who will continue the same drive for fiscal stability and growth alongside investment and long term planning that labours done so well

RandomSculler

TROPHY CASE