US vice president JD Vance is understood to have been forced to cancel a dinner reservation at a trendy Cotswolds gastro-pub after woke staff threatened to walk out if he showed up.
Vance’s family holiday with his wife, Usha Chilukuri, 39, and their three children, has sparked controversy this week with locals claiming their lives were ‘made hell’ by multiple car police convoys and buzzing helicopters.
Even Jeremy Clarkson complained about the US politician’s weeklong stay in the village of Dean near Charlbury in Oxford, saying the over-the-top security had affected filming for his show.
Now it has emerged that the fashionable Bull pub – which last month did entertain former US presidential Democrat candidate Kamala Harris – had to cancel a reservation Vance made because staff refused to serve him.
The suggestion that woke staff had refused to wait on the right-wing Republican swept local communities earlier this week – before last night being run by gossip site Popbitch last night and today being picked up by publications around the world, including Yahoo News and The Daily Beast.
The pub has doggedly declined to comment in response to media queries to confirm or deny that they had cancelled the VP’s planned dinner.
Richard Fairhurst, who runs the local Charlbury community blog, told The Daily Mail today: ‘It’s very widely believed locally [that staff refused to serve Vance] but The Bull are keeping schtum.’
Another local, Clare Shakya, said: ‘I am told by a reliable source that Bull staff did indeed object to JD Vance’s visit. And their regulars have been backing them for it.’
The showbiz blog Popbitch stated: ‘The mutinous staff all said they wouldn’t come to work if they had to serve Vance and his wife. Facing staff grumbles and a barrage of negative press attention The Bull refused his patronage.’
However, a source close to JD Vance said: ‘The Bull was included as a potential option for lunch, but the family ultimately decided not to go. There was never any indication from the Bull that he or his family were not welcome.’
The pub does offer private dining for up to 28 guests in the ‘secret garden room’, and Vance is thought to have earmarked this so he could get away from protestors angry at his stay in the Cotswolds.
There are links between the country manor where Mr Vance has been staying all week and the Bull pub.
The Bull is owned by the Bull Charlbury limited, a company who has three directors, one of whom is James Selwyn Gummer.
His father, Tory peer Peter Selwyn Gummer, aka Lord Chadlington, of Dean, until recently owned Dean Manor – the very country house where Mr Vance has been staying all week.
Lord Chadlington recently sold Dean Manor to Pippa and Johnny Hornby, also friends of David and Samantha Cameron, who rented the manor to Mr Vance.
Following news of Vance’s rejection from The Bull, the pub’s Facebook page was flooded with comments by people both welcoming and condemning the decision.
One said:’ Thank you for standing up against fascism, corruption and evil.’
Another added:’ Your staff have excellent values and stood up to a bully an abominable excuse for a human being! We will visit and eat with you asap. Best wishes and treasure your staff.’
However, one American replied: ‘Glad we broke away from you [sic] worthless country. You are only relevant now because of the United States – you’d all be speaking German if it weren’t for us.
‘Our country became everything you Brits wanted to be; it took us far less time to do it.’
Meanwhile, it emerged today that the suggestion of The Bull as a dinner venue may have originally been made to Vance by former Chancellor George Osborne
The Financial Times reported that Osborne had organised much of the VP’s Cotswolds itinerary after his old boss, David Cameron, who lives nearby, was contacted for advice on where to go – and he delegated the job.
‘George did it all,’ one source informed the FT. Another source added: ‘David came up with a few ideas, but George did the rest.’
Mr Vance and Mr Osborne are friends, with the latter revealing the cross-Atlantic bond on his Political Currency podcast last year.
‘He’s actually a friend of mine,’ said Mr Osborne. ‘He was an admirer of the Cameron government and what it had done.’
When Vance arrived at his rented farmhouse in the hamlet of Dean, he was greeted with signs telling him to ‘go home’ and ‘you are not welcome’, and after staying for a week, he has now left for Scotland, but locals say he is expected back.
The Bull was named pub of the year by the National Pub and Bar Awards.
The pub, which dates back to the 16th Century, gets top reviews on and in The Good Food Guide and the staff are described as ‘clued up, as well as boundlessly helpful’…unless, it seems, you happen to be the US Vice President.
Renowned for its locally sourced meats and trademark £26 Bull Pie, the pub also offers lip-smacking £98 sirloin steaks, while bar snacks include £120 sweetcorn fritters and £6 pork pies.
A bottle of Blanc de Noirs French champagne costs £100, while a more patriotic Sussex Nutty Vintage Brut is £70, and as you are asking, the most expensive drink on offer is a 1997 Vintage port at £20 a glass or £195 for the bottle.
The Michelin Guide gives The Bull a ‘bib gourmand’, saying the venue is of ‘good quality with good value food’ adding that ‘dining here is a hearty, satisfying experience’.
The Bull would only say:’ We have nothing to say.’