With working men’s clubs across the UK already plagued by dwindling membership prior to the Chancellor’s raid on hospitality venues, many heritage clubs are facing an existential crisis, as wage, energy, business rates and VAT rises cut into slim profit margins.
The chair of Stansted Mountfitchet Social Club has said the Labour Government “ought to be ashamed” of the crisis facing working men’s clubs, as increased wage, tax and VAT costs hit a community already affected by dwindling membership numbers.
Alan Snook told GB News that though the Essex venue has been experiencing operational difficulties for decades, the recent decisions by the Chancellor to boost tax income on the back of the hospitality sector has put the club in an impossible position.
“We’ve been in a very poor financial state for as long as I can remember,” said Snook. “It became so bad at one point three trustees had to remortgage their homes to get a loan to pay off the £120,000 debt to pay off the building.”
“Business rates are ghastly, the price of alcohol has shot up, and our energy prices have doubled recently just to keep the light on – it’s been crippling. Rachel Reeves has given the likes of us nightmares – the Labour Government ought to be ashamed.”
The number of working men’s clubs in the UK reached its apex in the years immediately following WWII, and by the 1970s there were more than 4,500 members of the Club and Institutions Union, however the number today is less than 1,000.
Praising the “fantastic clubs” in his constituency of Basildon and Billericay, MP Richard Holden warned they are now facing challenges “which have been made ten times worse with higher taxes and associated costs caused by this Government.”
“The best support the Government could give them, and other hospitality venues, is to U-turn on all their damaging decisions.”
Alongside the rising costs, many decades-old venues are still finding it hard to attract new members, with CIU general secretary Ken Green noting “people seem to think we are still in the 1930s and 40s. I feel very sad about it.”
Though Green predicted “the future is not as rosy as what we’d like it to be,” he remains optimistic about the coming decades, adding “the well run, well managed and well supported clubs will still be there long after I’ve gone.”
Government policies not working for Working Men’s Clubs
Alan Snook said… “Rachel Reeves has given the likes of us nightmares – the Labour Government ought to be ashamed…
