By Emma McClarkin OBE

Pubs are in Britain’s DNA. For centuries they’ve played host to christenings, first jobs, first dates, birthday parties, a quick post work-drink before the train home, weddings, even wakes. Life without them would be poorer.

Not only do they provide a unique social role, they play an important economical one. They directly employ hundreds of thousands of people and are key drivers of local economies.

Despite them being as cherished and vital as ever, far too many are staring down the barrel of closure because they are being broken by a tax system that punishes them.

The outcry has been unprecedented. Publicans are frightened, and many pubs could be wiped out by the new business rates bills. There is a very real and present danger that towns and villages across the UK could see their local close at an unthinkably rapid rate.

When a pub goes it doesn’t just mean a landlord loses out – it means workers lose their livelihoods, people have nowhere left to gather,........

© LBC