Member

The Government should be working with our hospitality sector, and with pubs across our constituencies, not against them as we have seen. In addition to the questions I have asked about RPI and not using CPI, what assessment have the Government made of the cumulative impact on our pubs and wider hospitality sector to date? Given the number of U-turns that have happened—we have seen another today, with the Government and Prime Minister rolling back on digital ID—will the Economic Secretary to the Treasury enlighten me about this? When fiscal changes have been made outside the budgetary cycle, such as the changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief, how has tax revenue to the Treasury been recalibrated? How much will those measures cost, and how will that impact the Government’s spending plans? We suspect—it has not been announced formally, but it has been trailed in the press—that there will be changes to business rates, which would of course be welcome. All Conservative Members want to see business rates scrapped in full. I cannot for the life of me understand why the Labour Government will not follow the Conservative party in that call, but if such a change takes place outside a fiscal event, where on earth will the Government get the money from to meet their spending plans?