New UK PM cuts business rates for pubs in latest cost-of-living measure
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut in business rates for struggling pubs, clubs and live music venues, the third major policy move in three days to ease the cost-of-living crisis.
Britain's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, announced a tax cut for struggling pubs, clubs and live music venues on Thursday, his third major policy announcement in as many days designed to ease the cost-of-living crisis.
The 20% cut to business rates – a local tax paid by firms – comes after he unveiled a planned cap on most bus fares in England and the removal of value added tax on household electricity bills. Burnham, who took office on Monday, is under pressure to show he can deliver the revitalised economy Labour promised when it won power in July 2024 after 14 years in opposition.
The latest tax cut is expected to save some 32,000 hospitality businesses in England around £1,100 (US$1,400) a year but ministers struggled to give full details of how it would be funded. Visiting a pub in Harlow, east of London, Burnham said the cut was a "first" but "important" step.
"We're losing pubs. Pubs need to know that the cavalry is coming," he told broadcasters. Ian Hoskins, owner of the Ma Pub Group in Liverpool, broadly welcomed the announcement but told Sky News it remained a "drop in the ocean". He said the biggest help the government could offer would be to reform business rates entirely and ensure people had more "money in their pockets" for discretionary spending. Mark Davy, chief executive of the Music Venue Trust, called it “an encouraging first step”.
Pubs, a quintessential cornerstone of British communities, are closing at the rate of around one a day, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. Like other hospitality businesses, they have been hit by an array of increased costs including higher energy and labour bills.
Reductions to tax relief for vape shops and gambling arcades will help to pay for the £100 million (US$133 million) annual cost of the measure. "Adult gaming centres on high streets can often bring real harm to communities," Burnham said, adding that vape shops "don't add much to community life and cause other issues too".
The main opposition Conservative Party said any help was welcome but called on Burnham to spell out how he planned to pay for the measure, due to come into force in April 2027. "This is the third unfunded spending commitment in three days," Tory minister Matt Vickers told GB News.
Burnham succeeded unpopular prime minister Keir Starmer, ousted only two years after he led Labour to power in a landslide election victory.
Meanwhile, former football star Gary Lineker was among 120 UK-based millionaires who penned a letter to Burnham urging him to tax them more.
