Mr Paul Kohler

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. This country faces fundamental problems: the faces at the top may have changed, but once again Labour has shown itself incapable of making the tough calls. This morning, I hosted a post-Budget roundtable for local employers in my constituency. I regret to report that the business community in Wimbledon shares my concern about this short-term, lacklustre Budget. By kicking the can down the road, this mañana Budget has failed the businesses that are critical to growing the economy. Rather than providing businesses with breathing space, the Chancellor has many of them drowning in crippling taxes and excessive regulation. Raising the business rates relief threshold to £18,000 is, of course, welcome, but high streets across my constituency, in Wimbledon, Raynes Park, New Malden and Morden, will see little benefit. Craig Hurring, the chief executive officer of Love Wimbledon, informed me today that the change will benefit an estimated 1% of the businesses in his business improvement district. Other changes that are in the pipeline are making matters worse. A company that manages fantastic serviced office space for new businesses in Wimbledon tells me that new restrictions on business rates relief mean that it will have to increase rents by up to 25%—a huge cost to start-ups. Business rates are crippling my local businesses. Gina Conway runs an award-winning hair and beauty salon in Wimbledon. She employs 38 people and trains up to 20 apprentices every year, but she tells me that “the pressure for most salon owners is too much to bear”. The long shadow of covid, soaring energy bills, VAT and crippling business rates are killing high street businesses. I was honoured to be present for the excellent maiden speech by the hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Sagal Abdi-Wali). I own a bar in Covent Garden in her constituency, so it feels a bit like she is my MP—I will invite her to it one day. That means that I know at first hand how the night-time economy is suffering. Since 2020, the UK has lost almost three in 10 late-night venues, and across the sector we continue to lose the equivalent of 13 businesses every week. The changes for self-assessment taxpayers are just as worrying. The Chancellor said that he would champion “the small British firms that give character to our communities”.—[Official Report, 28 October 2026; Vol. 792, c. 305.] Instead, 2029 risks becoming a brutal cash crunch, with 18 months of tax squeezed into 12 months. Increasing the tax on rental income is misguided. As the OBR has outlined, it will inevitably result in fewer homes to rent and higher rents. I fear that the new Prime Minister is repeating his predecessor’s mistakes. His only plan is to have a plan. The Budget makes no substantive progress on addressing welfare spending, social care or defence readiness. The only glimmer of hope is the Prime Minister’s recent comments on Europe, but even here my constituents still do not know what he really intends. According to Goldman Sachs, a close relationship with the EU could boost our economy by at least £60 billion per year. The Prime Minister must be bold. He must tear up his predecessor’s red lines, seek unfettered access to the world’s largest market and let British business realise its full potential.