An open letter attributed to a Scottish pub owner has challenged a Treasury minister’s suggestion that employers are not ‘working people’, inviting her to experience the long hours and financial pressures of running a hospitality business.
The sharply worded letter, signed in the name of the Seafield Arms in Whitehills, Aberdeenshire, was written in response to comments made by Emma Reynolds, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on GB News on Sunday 1 November 2026. Reynolds was defending the Government’s tax policies when she drew a distinction between employers and employees.
An invitation to work behind the bar
The letter uses humour to describe the demands of operating an independent pub: early starts, late finishes, wages, supplier bills, staff absences, broken equipment and unpredictable trade. Its author says the Seafield Arms employs around 25 people, whose wages must be met before the business owner can consider paying themselves.
“Emma, if you’re ever up in Whitehills, pop into the Seafield Arms. I’ll happily buy you a coffee.”
The invitation goes on to suggest a day of deliveries, kitchen duties, lunch service, rotas, invoices and cleaning, ending with a grease trap that could use some attention. The writer contrasts these responsibilities with the idea that employing staff somehow means an owner is no longer working.
The Seafield Arms website confirms that the venue operates a pub, restaurant and accommodation. Companies House lists Seafield Arms Whitehills Ltd as an active company. However, Fish 4 News has not independently found the original social-media publication of this letter or corroborated the figure of 25 employees. Both remain attributed to the circulating text.
What Emma Reynolds said
Reynolds’ comments came during an interview with presenter Camilla Tominey about Labour’s Budget and its promise to protect working people from rises in certain taxes. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:
“I don’t think employers are working people. They are companies.”
Pressed on whether someone who employs a cleaner could still be a working person, Reynolds said there was a difference between employers and employees. She maintained that the Government had not raised the headline rate of income tax, VAT or National Insurance for employees. The exchange was reported by The Morning Advertiser and Bucks Radio.
There is a genuine distinction in tax law between an employer’s obligations and an employee’s. It would be misleading to claim Reynolds explicitly said pub owners never work. Nevertheless, her wording has been widely interpreted as dismissive of people who own and personally run small businesses.
Chancellor says employers are working people
Two other Government ministers have taken a different position. On Monday 2 November, science minister Chris McDonald told LBC that employers were working people. He suggested Reynolds had been making a point about taxation rather than denying the work done by small-business owners.
On Tuesday 3 November, Conservative MP Esther McVey asked Chancellor John Healey in the House of Commons whether he agreed with his Treasury minister’s assessment.
“Of course they are.”
That was Healey’s reply, according to the official Hansard record. He went on to defend measures intended to help households and businesses manage costs.
Why the row has struck a nerve
The reaction is not confined to one Scottish pub. Other hospitality operators have told The Morning Advertiser that the comments overlooked the hours and responsibilities involved in keeping pubs open and staff employed.
The industry has been dealing with wage, energy and tax pressures. For context, HMRC’s current guidance lists the standard employer National Insurance rate as 15% above the applicable earnings threshold. That is a separate liability from the National Insurance paid by employees.
The point at the heart of the dispute is not whether employers and employees are legally different. They are. The question is whether a political promise to ‘working people’ should also recognise those who create jobs while working in their own businesses.
What we can verify
Reynolds’ interview remarks and the responses from McDonald and Healey are independently documented. The Seafield Arms is an established business. The original publication and authorship of the circulated open letter, and the precise number of people employed at the pub, remain unverified by Fish 4 News.
