Almost 50 Labor MPs have written to the Chancellor demanding an immediate halt to the planned increase in ticket prices for music venues. They warned the reassessment could push many venues to the brink of closure.
In a letter seen by the BBC, MPs called on Rachel Reeves to suspend the reassessment, which is due to come into force from April, arguing it could lead to a 45 to 275 per cent increase in music venues’ business rates.
The letter warns that the sector faces an “existential threat” as rising costs collide with the withdrawal of pandemic-era support. This comes as the Chancellor, under pressure from the hospitality industry and Labor backbenchers, works on a support package for pubs, which is expected to be announced shortly.
In her November Budget, Reeves reduced business rates discounts introduced during the pandemic from 75 per cent to 40 per cent and confirmed that all discounts will end completely from April. The move has already sparked a backlash across the hospitality sector, with around 1,000 pubs reportedly banning Labor politicians from their premises in protest.
The MPs’ intervention underlines concerns that any forthcoming support package could be too narrowly targeted at pubs, leaving other areas of the hospitality and cultural industries, including live music venues and hotels, exposed to sharp cost increases.
The letter was coordinated by Anneliese Midgley, a Liverpool MP and member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and signed by several Labor MPs who also sit on the committee.
“Many of us have been contacted in recent months by constituents who use and operate these important music spaces stating that they will be greatly impacted by the business rates reassessment in 2026,” the letter said.
It calls on the Treasury to lift the increase in April until a new and less damaging method of valuing music venues can be developed. MPs are also calling on ministers to extend support for recording studios, warning that up to half of them could be at risk under the new assessments.
Industry groups have long argued that business rates disproportionately penalize venues that rely on physical space and live audiences, and that steep increases could accelerate the loss of grassroots music venues across the UK.
The Ministry of Finance has been contacted for comment.
