Saqib Bhatti

Saqib Bhatti

Conservative — Meriden and Solihull East

Speaking in the House of Commons on 19 January 2026

Debate

Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure

Contribution

Those who run pubs in my constituency are really worried about the Budget and its impact on their business rates bills. Last week the Business Secretary said that there was no way the Government could have known about the impact of their decisions, but the valuation office then confirmed that it had told Ministers about the impact of their decisions, which I think the Minister has confirmed. He also confirmed that that data was easily accessible, so why did that happen? Was it wilful ignorance, was it incompetence or did they just go ahead anyway?

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