My Letter to the Chancellor on Hospitality VAT

In early June, I brought together leading voices from across the hospitality sector and Parliamentarians to confront the growing crisis facing the UK hospitality industry.

I held this event because the sector’s voice must be heard. What I heard was an industry on its knees asking for fairness and a lifeline, following so many economic hurdles having been thrown at them all at once. They simply want their businesses to survive at this point.

Following this event, I wrote to the Chancellor about this.

I set out three straightforward, essential steps the Chancellor could take right now to stop the hospitality sector from further crisis. I pushed her to:

• Cut VAT from 20% - Reduce hospitality VAT to 10%.

• Support viable employment - Ensure back‑to‑work ambitions are matched by workable employment policies.

• Tackle energy costs - Address high and unstable energy prices.

It’s now been over a month, and I have not received a response, either to this latest letter, or the one written jointly with my neighbour, Sir Roger Gale MP, which we wrote to the Chancellor just before her Budget last November.

Hospitality is one of the UK’s most important industries... culturally, socially, and economically. Ignoring these concerns doesn’t make the crisis disappear, it makes it worse. The silence leaves businesses, workers and communities to bear the consequences alone.

I’ll continue pushing for the support our hospitality sector urgently needs. This cannot continue.

It’s time to give hospitality the fair deal it deserves so it can thrive again