A pub landlord has demanded a Budget U-turn from Rachel Reeves as he hit out at the latest “attack on working people”.

Speaking to GB News from The Old Bulldog in Stoke-on-Trent, Mike Newton took aim at the second Budget from the Chancellor for targeting those who are the “backbone” of the nation.

Defending her Budget today, Ms Reeves told GB News she is “focused on cutting the cost of living, cutting NHS waiting lists and cutting debt and borrowing”.

She claimed: “I achieved those things in my Budget, my second Budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterday.”

Delivering his verdict on the Budget, Mr Newton told GB News: “It’s certainly not very helpful, and I think that it’s very evident that there are two things going on here.

“Firstly, if I do if my customers do well, then I do well, and this is a real attack on working people, this Budget. What I would say is this, that in terms of the specifics of the hospitality industry, then we could have done without the 25 per cent rise in business rates that I think this premises is going to have.”

He added: “We could have done without things like the rise in fuel duty and in alcohol tax, and we could also have done without the changes to National Insurance Contributions last year.

“I feel very strongly that our business is on a firm footing here, but we need help from the Government, not a tax on the working people who are the backbone.”

Criticising the Labour Government for having a “disconnect” from Britons, Mr Newton explained: “As we’ve seen today in these wonderful discussions we’ve had, it’s been fantastic. But there’s a feeling, isn’t there?

“You’ve picked it up, I’ve picked it up, that the Government is perhaps more disconnected than ever from the honest, hard working people who form the backbone of areas like Stoke-on-Trent.”

Revealing the impact of the rise in the National Minimum Wage on his costings and staff, the landlord said: “I think that if the economy downturns further, as it probably will after this Budget, then we will have to think about things like our staff numbers.

“I’m certainly not in a position where I’m going to go out and start hiring at the moment, which would be nice. I’d like to give people jobs. You’ve met the staff here today, fantastic people, they work super hard and we’ve got a really good business.

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“But if the costs of employing someone are going up relative to the money we are making, it is going to be a problem to hire more people and give them more hours.”

Asked by National Reporter Jack Carson what he would want from the Chancellor following her Budget statement, Mr Newton said: “I think she should just go full out and reverse the changes that were made last year, those have really undermined hospitality. When you increase taxes on employing people, it’s human nature, it’s the nature of business.

“There are going to be less people employed. You’ve seen what’s happened this year, unemployment is now five per cent. It’s gone up very rapidly. The economy is not in good shape.

“I think how the economy works and what we’ve seen yesterday is not good for Stoke-on-Trent, it is not good for the working people, and it’s certainly not great for hospitality.”

Hitting out at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Adam Walker told the People’s Channel he is “deeply frustrated” with the plans set out in the Autumn Statement.

He said: “I’m deeply confused and deeply frustrated. When it comes to the Labour Party, they’re supposed to be the party for the working people, so my question to two-tier Keir is how was yesterday’s Budget supporting me as a working taxpayer and the elderly, because you’re taking from pensioners once again.

“Last year, Ed Miliband promised a £300 reduction on energy bills, so I would like two-tier Keir to come sit here in the Old Bulldog, enjoy a pint with us and explain to us, without sugarcoating any of the nonsense that him and Rachel Reeves have come out with, to explain how that Budget supports us.”

He concluded: “I don’t think the Government realise and understand the hatred that working people have at this moment in time for the Labour Party.”

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