Businesses are telling me they are struggling. Over the last 18 months many have seen their business rates double, have been hard hit by the rise in employer national insurance (the ‘jobs tax’) and seen huge increases in energy bills. Pubs are vital centres of our rural life, yet they are closing on an epic scale.
Retail, hospitality and leisure employ nearly 6 million people nation-wide, yet since the Autumn budget over 1,000 pubs and restaurants have closed and nearly 90,000 hospitality workers have lost their jobs as a result.
This has got to stop. That’s why I am fighting hard in Parliament to back our businesses and reverse these disastrous policies. The Conservative Party forced a vote in Parliament to cut public spending to abolish business rates for businesses on our high streets and are calling on the Government to drop the Employment Rights Bill.
The Employment Rights Bill sounds good in theory, but in practice it will result in hiring freezes and job losses. We need to cut red tape and energy bills for businesses while tackling retail crime so we can protect our post offices, pubs, pharmacies, cafes and shops.
Although we lost the vote earlier in the month, I won’t stop backing local businesses and fighting for them in Parliament. If you, or someone you know runs a local business and need my help, please contact me.
