Chancellor returns early from California trip to resume discussions with business leaders
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said the government will "continue to do… whatever it takes" to support livelihoods as calls from the hospitality industry for financial support mount.
The chancellor was criticised for taking a trip to California this week while the UK government urged people to reduce social contact, causing Christmas trade at restaurants, pubs and hotels to disappear with no financial support in place.
Sunak will return to the UK on an earlier flight today to resume discussions with business leaders. The Treasury ministerial team has met with representatives from UKHospitality, Prezzo, Black Sheep Brewery, Nando's, Greene King, Whitbread, Adnams, Mowgli Street Food and the Federation of Wholesale Distributors.
Sunak said: "This government has done whatever it takes at every stage to support lives and livelihoods throughout this pandemic – and of course we will continue to do so.
"We understand that this is a concerning time for businesses. Myself and my wider team met with business representatives earlier today, listened to their concerns and will continue to work with industry leaders over the coming days."
However, in an interview with Sky News he said: "There is existing support measures in place to help the industry. For example, until spring of next year, most businesses in the hospitality industry are only paying a quarter of their normal business rates bill, they are benefitting from a reduced rate of VAT all the way through to next spring, and thirdly there is about a quarter of a billion pounds of cash sitting with local authorities that's been provided by government to support those businesses who need it. My immediate priority is to make sure that that money gets to those businesses as quickly as possible."
For many businesses this has not been enough to counter the huge drop in revenue, and some venues have been forced to close early for Christmas due to staff self-isolating or not being busy enough to remain viably open.
Photo: Flickr/HM Treasury
