Mock beer taps labelled “Rachel Thieves” have appeared behind the bar of a Hertfordshire pub as its landlord takes aim at Chancellor Rachel Reeves over crippling tax hikes.

The Green Dragon’s Chris Ghazarian has rigged up the spoof pump as a protest – telling customers the pretend pint would taste “very bitter” and cost more than anything else available, though anyone ordering it receives only water.

Punters at the Flaunden venue find the stunt amusing, the 36-year-old landlord said: “They find it hilarious. I obviously don’t make them pay for it.”

What flavour profile would this fictional beverage have? Mr Ghazarian had thoughts: “If it was a real beer, it would probably be something that’s very bitter and not very pleasant. It would be the most expensive thing on the bar.”

Pump clips typically display alcohol percentages, he noted, adding: “The majority of pump clips have the alcohol percentage on them, and when you’re dealing with the Chancellor, percentages are a big thing. But the fact there are no certainties with her, I thought I would put on, ‘The per cent may go up at any point’.”

Labour’s cost avalanche has buried hospitality bosses across Britain – business rates, National Insurance contributions and minimum wage demands are all climbing, while tougher drink-drive rules spell trouble for establishments in remote areas.

Rates bill to soar despite government U-turn

Ministers may have retreated on business rates, but The Green Dragon’s financial pain remains acute – “thousands of pounds more” will still land on Mr Ghazarian’s desk because valuers have bumped up the property’s estimated worth by 66 per cent, pushing it from £26,500 to £44,000.

Business owners are cast as villains by Sir Keir Starmer‘s government, Mr Ghazarian claimed, while branding the Chancellor’s rescue plan – a 15 per cent rates discount lasting one year followed by frozen bills for two more – as woefully short.

Confusion reigned among his clientele, he recalled: “I had a lot of my customers saying to me, ‘I thought there was going to be 15 per cent off the price of my pint’. And I had to explain that my business rates were still going up, I was just getting 15 per cent off what they could have been.”

‘You can’t tax your way to growth’

Running a business has become mission impossible thanks to government policy, Mr Ghazarian charged: “The Government has made the cost of running a business just impossible, while claiming to be pro-business and backing the economy to grow. But you can’t tax your way to growth.”

His pump clip serves a purpose beyond comedy, he explained: “The pump clip voices our opinion in a pint-sized format. Everyone notices it, agrees and has a little laugh. It’s a way for me to voice my thoughts and how I feel about what’s going on at the moment.”

Flaunden doesn’t normally feature in tales of political rebellion – its timber-framed cottages and 19th century St Mary Magdalene church define the village’s genteel character, reports The Telegraph.

Spies and ambassadors among former patrons

The Green Dragon’s customer archive allegedly features some notorious names – Joachim von Ribbentrop, Adolf Hitler’s ambassador to Britain in the 1930s, reportedly supped there, as did Cambridge Five traitors Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess. Village folklore maintains the pair were spotted deep in conversation at the pub a mere day before their 1951 dash to the Soviet Union.

Sir Keir Starmer’s name almost joined this historical register last month when he dropped into the neighbouring village hall for green energy talks with locals, though the pub itself didn’t make his itinerary.

A missed opportunity, according to Mr Ghazarian, who’s held the tenancy since 2019: “I’d like to have had a word with him. I think I’m entitled to. I pay enough VAT and tax and everything else, like a lot of people do.”

Vicious cycle threatens closures

Cost inflation ripples through his entire operation, the landlord warned: “With all these added costs, my suppliers are putting their prices up, which means I put my prices up, which means the customer has to pay, and it will come to a point where the customer says, ‘Do you know what? I’m not going to pay that’.”

The domino effect is inevitable, he argued: “So your trade declines, you don’t need as many staff because you’re quiet, so unemployment rises. It’s a simple formula. You don’t have to be an accountant to work it out. It’s a very vicious cycle and once you start gaining momentum, it will be very hard to stop it.”

Hospitality venues including pubs, restaurants and cafés deserve VAT cuts, while the entire business rates system needs dismantling and rebuilding from scratch, Mr Ghazarian insisted.

Future uncertain for family business

Current circumstances remain manageable, but storm clouds are gathering: “At the minute we’re okay, but with what might come next I don’t have much confidence at all. I’m married, I have an 18-month-old and another on the way, and this is our family home.”

Closure looms as a possibility if the tax burden continues rising while customer numbers fall, he acknowledged: “I want to keep the pub open, but if customers stop coming and the taxes are too high, it’s only going to end one way. Pubs are going to close. I just hope it’s not us.”

A Treasury spokesperson said: “We are backing Britain’s pubs – cutting April’s business rates bills by 15 per cent followed by a two-year freeze, extending World Cup opening hours and increasing the Hospitality Support Fund to £10m to help venues grow … later this year, we’ll build on our Pride in Place programme with a new High Streets Strategy to revitalise town centres.”

The spokesperson continued: “This comes on top of capping corporation tax, cutting alcohol duty on draught pints and six cuts in interest rates, benefitting businesses in every part of Britain.”