Pub Offers Free Pints to Black Labrador Owners After MP's 'Far-Right' Remark
A rural pub is offering free beer to owners of black Labradors in response to comments made by a Labour MP who suggested the idealized image of country pubs and dogs is a 'far-right fantasy'.
The Trowel and Hammer pub in Cotton, Suffolk, announced it would offer a free pint to patrons who brought their black Labradors on Sunday. This initiative comes after Labour MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, the Nature Minister, stated at a fringe event during the Labour Party conference that she fears the far-right may attempt to "weaponize the countryside" in future elections. Riddell-Carpenter expressed concern that a "nostalgic vision of Britain that never really existed," characterized by "warm ale, a black Labrador by your feet in a pub that doesn't exist, and with symbolism of fox hunting all around them," could be used by the far-right.
Owners Freddy and Bekkie Vaudrey, who run The Trowel and Hammer, pushed back against the comments, calling them "stupid." They posted on social media, "Warm ale? Black Labrador by your feet? A pub that doesn't exist? Well… you could have fooled us!!" The pub owners emphasized that politics has no place in their establishment and that their pub is open to everyone. They added that "warm beer is popular, it is arguably our bestselling product" and that dogs are always welcome. The couple own a black Labrador named Philip.
Following the backlash, Ms. Riddell-Carpenter took to social media to clarify her remarks, stating that black Labradors and beer are not inherently "far-Right." She later shared a photograph of her own childhood black Labrador, saying, "Do I think country pubs and black labs are far Right? No way hosay! I was talking about how rural life isn't always rosy and there are challenges government can help fix... So yes to pubs, pints and Labradors! I love all of these things." Despite her clarification, Conservative Party Chairman Kevin Hollinrake criticized Labour, suggesting the party views "the countryside, the pub, the dog and the people who love them are far-Right."