The comments formed part of a Westminster Hall debate earlier this week that saw a cross-party group of MPs make their case for Government support to be provided to the hospitality sector.
Mike Wood, the Conservative MP for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire, who led the debate, warned of the challenges facing the sector, noting the impact of the Autumn Budget, which saddled operators with a rise in employment costs and a cut in business rates support.
“Hospitality is being taxed out of existence, and that is a political choice,” Wood said.
“We need a change of course not just for the sector, but for every community that depends on it. We need policies that reflect the value that hospitality brings — economically, socially and culturally — and we need action now.”
He added: “The brakes must be taken off, and there are simple, targeted steps that the Government could take now.”
Among Wood’s calls was a ‘reform of business rates’, which the Government is expected to announce this autumn.
He also suggested scrapping the proposed additional levy on larger hospitality businesses; evaluate ways to reschedule how business repay Covid debts; and backed UKHospitality’s plan for a new lower rate of National Insurance contributions for those earning between £5,000 and £9,100.
“Each of those measures would stimulate growth, protect jobs, and help every region of the UK to thrive.”
Wood was supported by fellow Conservative Andrew Griffith, MP for Arundel and the South Downs, who accused the Government of creating a hostile environment for the hospitality industry.
“The truth is that the Government have done nothing to support our hospitality businesses, which have been entirely let down and treated as cash cows by the Chancellor.”
Angus MacDonald, Liberal Democrat MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, who owns a cinema, restaurant and visitor centre in Fort William and was brought up in a rural inn, said the hospitality sector had not struggled more in his lifetime.
“Both the last two Governments have plucked the golden goose of hospitality so often that it no longer has any feathers,” he said.
Responding for the Government, Gareth Thomas, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said he ‘fully understood’ the significant challenges faced by the sector, but defended the financial decisions made by the Chancellor.
He said: “Let us not forget that this Government inherited a very challenging fiscal situation, which meant the Chancellor had to take difficult decisions in relation to tax and spending.
“Schools, police and local hospitals in all our constituencies are set to be better funded because of the difficult decisions she had to take in the Budget last year. The investment in infrastructure, or in social and affordable housing, that all our constituents need would not be happening without the decisions the Chancellor made last October.
“I know that many hospitality businesses have been impacted by those tough choices, but they are important for delivering the long-term stability and growth that our country needs and that our hospitality businesses, as well as the rest of the economy, will benefit from in the long run.”