Gregory Stafford

Gregory Stafford

Conservative — Farnham and Bordon

Speaking in the House of Commons on 12 November 2026

Debate

Hospitality Sector VAT: Local Economies, Employment and Growth

Contribution

The hon. Lady is giving an excellent description of the problems happening in Northern Ireland, but they are happening in England, Wales and Scotland as well. I hold a regular quarterly meeting with my local publicans and hospitality businesses. They say repeatedly that the situation they face at the moment is worse than it was under covid, because at least under covid the Government stepped in to support them. The Government are now penalising them through all the things the hon. Lady just mentioned, such as the business rates increases—for one pub in my area they are going up by £32,000. That is just not sustainable, and there are the national insurance rises, too. Does she agree that although VAT is part of the picture, the Government really need to deal with all sorts of other parts of the tax system?

More from Gregory Stafford

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

For Gregory Stafford's full parliamentary record including voting history, expenses and all other contributions, see the Gregory Stafford report card.