Government to 'work with' pubs over business rates reforms, Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer has said his Government will work with pubs over the rise in business rates “to make sure we can work this through” following outcry amongst publicans.
In the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced reforms to the business rates system, which is a tax on commercial properties.
Hospitality businesses like pubs, restaurants and hotels often have large footprints, and are therefore susceptible to changes in the system.
Allen Simpson, the deputy chief executive of UKHospitality, has said that pubs will see their business rates increase by 76 per cent on average.
This has left publicans furious, with many saying it will be the last straw after Covid and the energy crisis.
Ms Reeves has even been barred from some pubs in her Leeds West and Pudsey constituency.
It comes as Yorkshire has had the highest rate of pub closures of anywhere in the country in the last five years.
Sir Keir has hinted at some movement on this policy in an interview with LBC.
He said: “What's happened is there were reductions in place during Covid, which were always going to be unwound at some point.
“The overall rates are going to be lower, but I accept that because of re-evaluation, that means that some will have their bills going up.
“We're putting in place transitional relief. We're talking to the sector, particularly hospitality and pubs, about what further support we can put in, whether that's licensing freedoms or other measures.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the Government should listen to “people like Tom Kerridge” who are calling for a VAT cut for the hospitality sector.
"Our policy is to abolish business rates for the high street if they're paying £110,000 or less. That's the kind of thing that will get Britain working again,” she said.
"I think we should be competing with European nations and doing better.
"Right now, we have a lot of the most entrepreneurial, youngest dynamic people leaving our country because they think that it's too hard to start and run a business.
"So we should listen to what people like Tom Kerridge are saying, and try and make sure that we create the right conditions for growth.
"If there are rules which are stopping business from growing our economy, let's look at them, and let's see what we can do to make their lives easier.”