Labour MPs are getting the chop from hairdressers in revenge for Rachel Reeves’ Grinch Budget
Fed-up barbers and salon owners are following the lead of more than 1,000 publicans who have barred the party’s politicians from their boozers after the Government failed to slash business rates.
Labour MPs are getting the chop from hairdressers in revenge for Rachel Reeves’ Grinch Budget.
Fed-up barbers and salon owners are following the lead of more than 1,000 publicans who have barred the party’s politicians from their boozers after the Government failed to slash business rates. It comes after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves was handed a grim budget warning by powerful a business figure.
Collette Osborne, who runs two salons in Notts, says her bill could jump by more than £10,000 a year. She has put up a “No Labour MPs” sign, saying “hanging on by a thread”. Ms Osborne added: “There is no spare capacity to absorb business rate increases on top of rising wages, utilities, finance costs and Covid debt repayments.”
Emma Vickery, a hairdresser in London, warned many will go to the wall as it is “becoming financially unsustainable”.
Labour say last month’s Budget is backing high-street businesses with a support package worth £4.3 billion.
It comes after Rachel Reeves’ budget has been blamed for the closure of Pep Guardiola’s restaurant in Manchester.
Test Catala, which the Man City manager invested in alongside pals from the club, has announced it is shutting down after seven years.
Guardiola has used Test Catala to wine and dine City signings and the club’s execs, with the likes of Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Mikel Arteta having visited the Manchester eaterie.
But the restaurant is closing its doors, saying in a social media statement that it had faced “exceptionally challenging trading conditions and increased costs”. UK Hospitality said wage rises and steep increases in rateable values in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ recent budget would hit the hospitality sector hard.
UKHospitality’s Allen Simpson of UK Hospitality told The Sun: “This is yet another example of how cost pressures are forcing venues to take the hard decision to close for good.
“Successive Budgets have dramatically increased the cost of employment and will soon send business rates soaring. Unfortunately, this will only accelerate business closures and job losses.
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith put the boot in with a football analogy, telling the outlet: “The Chancellor’s latest Budget was another own goal for pubs and restaurants.
“They were already one-nil down on higher wage costs but her hikes in business rates seems to have sealed their fate.”
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