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Now, hairdressers are following in the footsteps of pubs by banning Labour MPs over what they are calling the government's business rates betrayal
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More than 1,000 pubs have already barred the party's parliamentarians from their premises in a growing backlash against Rachel Reeves' budget
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And we're joined by one of them now, Colette Osborne, the salon owner of Heaven in Nottinghamshire
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Colette, thank you so much for joining us on GB News this afternoon. What's your message to Labour MPs and why have you introduced this ban
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Well, firstly, thank you for having me on here today, Charlie, and thank you, GB News, for covering this
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Why have we introduced this ban? There's no other way to actually get Labour to listen to our sector
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They won't listen. I actually met the Chancellor myself pre-election 2024. Rachel Rude herself to my face actually promised me
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that she would do something, that she would back business. I voted Labour because I believed what she told me
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such a senior politician giving me absolute assurances what a mistake that was
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so I actually changed from Conservative to vote Labour now I'm actually banning Labour MPs from my salon
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as are many other salons because frankly we've been ignored for far too long
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disregarded, we're not listened to we're seen as the sector that doesn't really matter
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and quite frankly, how else are we going to get them to listen to us
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Sure. Well, Colette, when I was thinking about this story, I was thinking, you know, here at GB News, we're the home of free speech
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We believe in people sort of coming together having discussions as you can convince people try and change their minds But the thing is in your case you did do that You met with the shadow chancellor before she was
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elected. And it seems, you know, she did not listen to you. So what's the point, do you think
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in trying to have those conversations again, trying to have Labour MPs into your salon
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Well, firstly, you know, I think it's the only way to get the message across
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We feel betrayed by the current government. We've had the same issues with successive
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And, you know, I would put a direct message out there to Rachel Reeves, if I can, Charlie, to actually meet the British Hair Consortium, to actually meet with employers and don't exclude us
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If they're going to exclude us from government meetings, that's employees in our sector, then we have no choice but to exclude MPs from our salons
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Well, a Labour source has said that the government, they said they're backing high street businesses across the country, including hairdressers and salons
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They also say the Chancellor has announced a support package worth £4.3 billion in the budget last month
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Did you feel supported by that budget? Absolutely not. We are not supported, Charlie. This is purely lip service
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The devil is always in the detail, and the detail here, quite frankly, sinks small businesses on the high streets
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So not just us, but our colleagues on the high street, hospitality, restaurants, everybody
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So no, there's actually no support. I'll go even further than that and call out directly to the government, directly to our
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business minister, Kate Dearden, and say not only have you not supported high street trading
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but you've also excluded our industry, hair and beauty and barbering, from industrial
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strategy So we can bring tens of thousands back to employment but we have a Labour government Charlie that don actually want to back employers or the high street And the Salon Employers Association one of their members said that you all decent hardworking kind people
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I can absolutely agree with that. But they would expect a Labour government who triumphantly said they would make work pay to support them and they feel betrayed
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How can Labour MPs win back your trust, having committed so much before the last election
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I know you've made those direct appeals to those ministers. There are so many cost pressures on small businesses
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right across the country. What are the specific changes that you want introduced
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to re-engage with you and to change that feeling of betrayal? Well, Labour don't need to do that much, Charlie
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but stand by their manifesto pledges. They said they would make work pay. Work doesn't pay. Hidden economy activity does
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They said they would back small business. They made 12 pledges to small businesses in their small business pledge pre-election
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They've not actually stood by those pledges. They said they would level the playing field
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They would level the playing field and actually make it so that employers weren't undercut by unscrupulous businesses
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They have done nothing to actually do that. I just see a lot of, you know, false promises, lip service
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If they're going to win back the trust, and I think there's something I'd like to say to every MP on here
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Do not forget that every salon has the ear of every constituent
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We sit your constituents in our chairs every single day, and we're actually telling them
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right now that the government have actually failed our sector. They've actually watched employment collapse
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They are not backing our apprentices They are not backing us So stand by their manifesto pledges If you going to close the tax gap do it properly and actually get round a table with the employers and stop excluding us from government meetings
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We have a voice, we're not going away and we won't make as much noise as we have to until you listen
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Colette, very quickly, you spoke about unscrupulous employers as well. In your industry, a lot of people see salons and barbers
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across the country that they're not really convinced by. They're not sure that they are legitimate
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Do you want the government to be taking action there as well? Do you have confidence they can do that
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Well, the government know all about this, Charlie. I'm also vice-chair for the Hair and Barber Council
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We have a mandate, an Act of Parliament, 1964, for hairdressing and barbering
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It's currently voluntary, and we've asked them to mandate that so that we can actually stop these bad actors
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And let's be frank now, they know all about this. Criminal gangs actually occupying our high streets
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taking over UK salons, pushing legitimate businesses out. So they are actually fully aware of this
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They know they've got a plan in place. But what they do need to do is mandate our register so that we can actually put the necessary checks in place
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Currently, I will shock you to just tell you that no government data, there's no central register anywhere
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Nobody knows how many people are traded in our sector, if they're qualified or not, if they're insured or not
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This puts consumers at risk. And quite frankly, so the first thing they could do, if I could, if I could do anything
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is get round a table with the leaders in our industry from the British Hair Consortium
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which includes all organisations. And we've got the solutions ready and waiting for you
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You just need to listen to us and get your fingers out your ears. All right. Claire Osborne, the salon owner of Hairvan in Nottinghamshire
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Thank you very much for your time this afternoon
