Mr Paul Kohler

Indeed I do. It is death by a thousand cuts. Those who run hospitality businesses have been hit by cost after cost after cost. The Government must listen. Alcohol duty brought in about £12.5 billion in 2024-25. Hospitality, by contrast, contributed over £60 billion to the economy in 2023 and supported over 2.5 million jobs—over 7% of the workforce. Yet UKHospitality estimates that 89,000 jobs—nearly 100,000—were lost in the nine months after the October 2024 Budget. Official figures show that 366 pubs closed in the year to December 2025. That is one pub every single day. The roots of this crisis lie in years of Conservative mismanagement, Brexit labour shortages, a broken business rates system, energy price shocks, commodity price increases and a cost of living crisis. Many in the sector hoped that the change of Government would bring a change of direction, yet things have only got worse with the rise in employer national insurance contributions. The cumulative effect is undeniable: rising costs for shorter opening hours and fewer staff. Offering us easier or longer opening hours does not help if we do not have customers coming through the door. Investment is deferred, and too often doors close for good. When that happens, high streets lose more than businesses; they lose employment, footfall and the social infrastructure on which communities depend. That is why the Lib Dems are calling for an emergency cut in VAT for hospitality to 15% until April 2027, real reform of business rates and a proper review of the unworkable wine duty system. Such measures would protect jobs, support high streets and, in time, strengthen the public finances rather than weaken them. The hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur), who is no longer in the Chamber, asked where the money will come from. We keep telling Labour: get rid of the red lines and negotiate a customs union with the EU, which would raise £25 billion a year for the Exchequer. Businesses in Wimbledon and across the country are not asking for our pity; they are asking for a tax system that reflects the pressures they actually face. If Ministers are serious about protecting jobs, strengthening high streets and growing the economy, they should reverse this tax increase and introduce an emergency VAT reduction for hospitality.