Robbie Moore

When a pub closes in Keighley, it is not just that we lose a business: the high street loses footfall, a teenager loses their first job opportunity and a community loses one of the best places for everyone to meet. In my constituency, hospitality is the beating heart of our economy; from Timothy Taylor’s, brewing in Keighley since 1858, to the pubs, cafés and guest houses that welcome visitors, hospitality businesses support thousands of local jobs, and right now, every one is being squeezed by a Labour Government that treat them as a cash cow, and not as the valuable assets that they are. Ministers have already piled £6.8 billion of new costs on to hospitality businesses through two Budgets, the jobs tax, the cut to rates relief and the Employment Rights Act 2025. Right now, a likely £1.6 billion tourism tax will be hitting businesses like those across Haworth and Ilkley. What is the result? According to UKHospitality, 100,000 hospitality jobs have been lost in two years, making up 45% of all jobs lost across the entire economy. One in four businesses are losing money, and one in six fear they could fail within a year. With around 30% of young people getting their first jobs in hospitality, it is the next generation that is paying the price of this Labour Government. I have three questions for the Minister. Do the Government accept that their Budget has cost the sector hugely? Will they scrap the tourism tax? Will the Prime Minister finally honour his words of February this year and support a VAT cut? The pubs, the cafés and the hospitality sector across Keighley and Ilkley do not want more warm words. They need a Government that stop taxing them out of existence.