Andy Burnham has confirmed plans for a new rule for all pubs in England if he becomes Prime Minister. The incoming MP for Makerfield, who will be sworn in today, said he will consider cutting some employers’ national insurance contributions. He also proposed reducing business rates for pubs, amid the threat of thousands of boozers having to close over the Labour Party government's rates.
Details of the Proposed Policy
Under his plan, pubs, clubs and music venues would receive a 20% cut next year. Smaller, independent hospitality, leisure and retail companies would have the threshold for paying business rates raised for the first time since 2017, taking many outside the scope of the tax.
“I have said that I thought the weight of the burden on employers’ national insurance wasn’t the right decision. However, it was the decision,” Burnham said. “There is more that needs to be done to listen to the voice of small business, and as I’ve gone around this constituency, I’m hearing it a lot. People just feel they are at the kind of limits of what they can do.”
Burnham's Critique of Current Government
“I am willing to be honest about where we have fallen short and say that my party has got this wrong in government,” Burnham said in the statement. “They have undervalued the contribution these businesses make to our livelihoods and our communities. Our high streets matter to me because they matter to the people who live here. I want to make sure that these family-owned businesses, as the heart and soul of this country, are protected and given the chance to thrive.”
Political Context
It comes as Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly not "in fighting mode", according to a minister, who was speaking to Sky News on Monday morning as speculation swirls around his future. Baroness Jacqui Smith told the programme she hasn't spoken to Starmer over the weekend. But the skills minister said she has "spoken to people close to [Starmer] who emphasise this point about the thinking that he's doing about the good of the country." The last time I did speak to him, that was very much the emphasis that he had the need... to continue making those changes. She added: "I wouldn't say he was in fighting mode."
