Spring statement: 'reality and rhetoric worlds apart' - Tommy Banks
“Reality and rhetoric were worlds apart” in Rachel Reeves’ spring statement, one of Yorkshire’s leading chefs has said.
Tommy Banks, who runs the Michelin-starred Black Swan in Oldstead and the Abbey Inn in Byland, was responding to the Chancellor’s statement in the House of Commons yesterday.
It was not a budget, but instead Ms Reeves was responding to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts, which predicted a rise in unemployment and the growth rate slowing, with inflation coming down.
The Chancellor claimed she had “restored economic stability” and pledged to leave families “better off”.
However, as Ms Reeves made her speech, farmers protested outside the House of Commons by driving round Parliament Square honking their horns.
Mr Banks, the co-founder of Jeopardy Hospitality, told The Yorkshire Post that “it felt as though reality and rhetoric were worlds apart” with the Chancellor’s speech.
“Businesses are being taxed at levels that many simply cannot sustain, and the consequences are visible across the country,” he said.
“There are now 100,000 fewer people working in hospitality. That isn’t just a statistic — that’s 100,000 livelihoods.
“As a business owner, if I ever have to let someone go, it keeps me awake at night.
“So it’s difficult to reconcile decisions that leave so many people out of work with the tone of congratulation we sometimes hear from the Government.
“Hospitality doesn’t need sympathy — it needs smart policy. We don’t need fewer restaurants.
“We need an environment where responsible, community-driven businesses can thrive, employ, train, and contribute to Britain’s cultural and economic strength.”
Mr Banks had previously criticised the Government for failing to “understand hospitality” ahead of its rescue package for pubs over the business rates hike.
Yesterday, speaking after Ms Reeves, Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride attacked the Government for its array of U-turns, on everything from business rates to inheritance tax.
Aiming at the Chancellor, he said: “She and the Prime Minister have no backbone when it comes to taking difficult decisions.
“Before the budget, winter fuel payment, u-turn, welfare reform, u-turn, two child benefit cap, u-turn, and in a short period of time after the budget, farm tax, u-turn, family business tax, u-turn, public houses, u-turn.”
Ms Reeves’ statement was largely overshadowed by the war in the Middle East.
An Iranian shipping blockade caused oil and gas prices to spike, while the FTSE 100 dropped by 2 per cent before the Chancellor could speak.
Ms Reeves said her economic plan had become “even more important in a world that in the last few days has become yet uncertain”.
However, the Office for Budget Responsibility said that the ongoing instability made its forecast that inflation would drop to the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target next year “particularly uncertain”.