By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-03 01:24:23 | Updated at 2026-10-03 02:10:40
55 minutes ago
A country pub is offering black lab owners free pints after a Labour minister called the idea of Britain based on pubs, warm ale and black labradors a "far-right fantasy that never really existed".
The Trowel and Hammer in Cotton, Suffolk, will hand punters "a free warm beer with every black labrador" in a special offer amid outrage at the MP's claim.
Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, the Nature Minister who represents nearby Suffolk Coastal, claimed the traditional imagery of Britain was a "far-right nostalgic vision" that "we don't want to have".
She claimed the so-called "far-right" will try to weaponise rural Britain at the next election, and said she lies "awake at night" and "fears" what "nostalgic vision" of the countryside will be used in the supposed battle.
Instead, she threatened to campaign for Labour's "progressive vision for the countryside".
Now, the Trowel and Hammer's landlord Freddy Vaudrey has weighed in, blasting her remarks as "completely misaligned with the reality of pub life".
Mr Vaudrey added: "It was a stupid thing to say. It wasn't correct."
He said he and his wife Becky had spent three years - and a lot of money - restoring the pub "to make sure it is there for future generations, and hopefully still selling Suffolk warm ales".
The Nature Minister claimed the so-called 'far-right' will try to weaponise rural Britain at the next election
HOUSE OF COMMONS
The duo have a "fantastic" black labrador named Philip.
A post on their watering hole's Instagram account jokingly invited customers to "a pub that doesn’t exist" on Sunday.
The landlord added that Ms Riddell-Carpenter had "picked on the countryside, which is wrong".
"Politics should be left out of pubs - our pub is for everyone, and we need their custom to keep our business alive. All people and dogs are welcome. That's what pubs are for," he said.
The Trowel and Hammer will hand punters 'a free warm beer with every black labrador' in a special offer
THE TROWEL AND HAMMER/INSTAGRAM
He said Sunday's offer would be about "celebrating Suffolk and community", explaining: "Sundays are for meeting friends and family, going for a country walk with your dog, enjoying some home-cooked food and then going for a lovely drink in the pub.
"We want people to enjoy their families and their dogs in the pub."
The Labour minister's remarks came back to bite her just days after she made them.
She had shared images on social media of her black labrador and of her local pub.
Ms Riddell-Carpenter later attempted to address the uproar, which had led to accusations that Labour "really, really hates this country".
PICTURED: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter with a black labrador
FACEBOOK/JENNY RIDDELL-CARPENTER
She said she was talking about how "rural life isn't always rosy and there are challenges Government can fix".
The MP, 40, insisted she loved pubs, pints and labradors and "so much more that rural Britain is".
Though she doubled down on her campaigning promise, vowing that "our progressive Labour vision under this Government will bring more opportunity for everyone in rural Britain".
Conservative chairman and labrador-owner Kevin Hollinrake said: "Labour think the countryside, the pub, the dog and the people who love them are far-right.
"Labour is taxing the pub out of existence, as part of a sustained attack on the countryside, with almost two closing every day. That is a far more pressing cause of insomnia."
