RISHI’S BOUNCE BACK BUDGET!
Chancellor will unveil £5billion recovery fund for high streets, pubs and shops
CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has promised there is now “light at the end of the tunnel” as he prepares to unveil a £5billion fund to revive Britain’s battered pubs, restaurants and high street shops.
Mr Sunak will deliver his Budget on Wednesday, as the Government gears up for the huge task of reopening the country – beginning with schools on Monday week.
Among a range of measures, he will announce that infrastructure projects will get a multi-billion pound boost, while another
£375million will be made available as a “future fund” to fire up high-growth businesses.
The £5billion package for restart grants is aimed at thousands of businesses – including pubs, restaurants, clubs, hotels, gyms, shops and salons – which have been hardest hit by the pandemic and lockdown.
It is thought that 700,000 firms will be eligible and it means that, in all, £25billion will have been given out in direct grants.
Mr Sunak said: “Our local businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic, which is why we went big and went early with a multi-billion pound package of support.
“There is now light at the end of the tunnel and this £5billion of extra cash grants will ensure that our high street shops can open their doors with optimism.”
On the further investment in key projects through the Infrastructure Bank, he added: “We are backing this bank with the finance it needs to deliver modern infrastructure fit for the 21st century and create jobs. This shows how serious we are about levelling up the country so that everybody can benefit from our future prosperity.
“Britain’s businesses and the Great British public deserve world-class infrastructure and that is exactly what this new bank will help us deliver for them.”
Under the restart grants scheme, non-essential retail businesses will get up to £6,000 per premises to help them reopen and commence trading safely.
Hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses in England – which will open later under the roadmap or will be more impacted by restrictions when they do open – will get up to £18,000 per premises.
Local authorities will be responsible for distributing the grants and receive funding in April so they can make payments to businesses as soon as possible, with the Government’s existing business grants schemes ending at the end of March.
Local authorities in England will also get an extra £425million to distribute grants to businesses not eligible for the restart grants but which are also experiencing a severe impact on trade due to public health restrictions.
Mr Sunak’s drive to get Britain thriving again following the worst of the pandemic comes days before schools reopen to pupils.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said the key aim of reopening in March is to “recoup the lost childhood” caused by the pandemic and to ensure that youngsters’ lives will not be defined by the Covid crisis.
Mr Sunak’s latest intervention has been warmly welcomed by those in the worst affected industries, but also comes amid dire warnings over the state of the economy.
A snap survey carried out by the Countryside Alliance revealed that a third of rural pubs are unlikely or do not know if they will be able to restart their business, as the current Government roadmap does not allow indoor customers until May 17. Meanwhile,
all of those questioned backed a campaign spearheaded by North West Durham Conservative MP Richard Holden to scrap beer duty.
Mo Metcalf-fisher, of the Countryside Alliance, said that Mr Sunak’s scheme may save many of the pubs which are threatened with closure.
He said: “News of these grants will be a big relief for
so many publicans, who are struggling daily to keep their already fragile businesses open for trading and people in jobs.
“The ability going forward, to allow all pubs to serve takeaway alcohol in line with when friends and family meet outside again in March, as well as an extension of VAT at five per cent and reduced rates, will really make the difference A ‘blue collar’ budget to get Britain moving
Esther Mcvey MP
By
BLUE COLLAR CONSERVATIVES FOUNDER THIS Budget is one of seismic importance. It is one which needs to focus exclusively on getting the country up and running again after the economically destructive lockdowns.
It needs to be about economic growth and job creation, and one that delivers on the levelling-up agenda too – a key promise in our 2019 election manifesto and crucial in ensuring “red wall” seats remain Conservative.
In short, we need a blue collar Budget – helping working class voters, many of whom have seen their jobs lost or their income cut during the lockdowns.
Some people wrongly think the way to keep former Labour voters on-side is to be more like Labour but nothing could be further from the truth.
They didn’t vote Labour because they agreed with socialist policies.they used to because of a misguided class issue, thinking Labour was for working class voters. Many now realise most Labour MPS wouldn’t recognise a working class voter if they tripped over one and it is the Conservative Party that reflects and understands their priorities.
This is not the Budget for Rishi Sunak to turn Labourlight and try to increase taxes on hard-working people and businesses.that would only serve to deprive the public of even more of their hard-earned money and choke off the recovery before it has even started.
Hard-pressed families and businesses can’t afford tax increases after the last year and, as any self-respecting Conservative knows, you can’t tax your way to economic growth and prosperity.
Blue Collar Conservatism has around 160 MPS signed up, covering the length and breadth of the country – and we have a list of key asks to support their businesses and communities.
We believe this Budget should focus on the priorities of hard-working families – lower personal and business taxes; a cut in beer duty to help pubs and brewers; a continued fuel duty freeze; and an overhaul of the business rates regime to help those on our high streets.
The Chancellor should continue the stamp duty freeze and we would like to see the renewal of enterprise zones, to encourage businesses to invest and locate in red-wall seats too long overlooked for economic development.
The Budget can lead this country to rapid growth after the lockdown devastation. But the only way to do that is to pursue a Conservative, tax-cutting agenda which has rescued us from economic ruin so many times in the past.
What do you think – WILL BUDGET BOOST SAVE
THE HIGH STREET?
YES
– 0901 133 4421 text SXYES to 84988
– 0901 133 4422 text SXNO to 84988
●
NO
● Texts cost 50p plus standard charges. Calls cost 50p plus your telephone company’s network access charge. Vote closes at midnight tonight. SP:
Spoke, 0333 202 3390. Express Newspapers may contact you by post, SMS and/or email with offers, goods or services that may be of interest to you. To stop receiving SMS messages please text ‘NSNOINFO’ to the
originating number.
700,000 firms will get grants of £6,000 to £18,000 for each outlet
£375million fund set up for high-growth business boost
£425million for local authorities to help any who slip through net
in the fight to save these muchloved British institutions.
“It will also make a difference in getting customers back spending cash, in the national effort to rebuild the economy.”
Trade bodies also backed the move. Kate Nicholls, CEO of Ukhospitality, said: “This new package of grant support is extremely welcome and will be a lifeline for hospitality businesses
as they navigate the last few months of forced closure.
“With the success of the vaccine there is light at the end of the tunnel, but closure costs are still racking up.”
Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “This money is a significant cash injection for non-essential retail, pubs, bars, restaurants, gyms, hairdressers
and beauty salons. It will provide a much-needed lifeline, offering firms some reassurance as we look to put lockdowns behind us and focus on a vaccine-fuelled recovery.”
But commercial property veteran Tony Lorenz warned that the looming economic crisis “will make the 2008 financial crash look like a teddy bear in comparison”.
Mr Lorenz, who has been involved in the London commercial property market for 55 years and represents famous names such as the Playboy Club, the Empire, the Sportsman and China White, is fronting the Give Hospitality a Break campaign.
It is pushing for the Government to facilitate a slow payback of deferred rents, with 50 per cent in the first year and then monthly payments after.
Mr Lorenz said: “I have been through four recessions previously and even though Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008 was very bad this is the worst devastation yet that we are entering at the moment. It is absolutely drastic out there.” Mr
Lorenz has switched his business into corporate recovery and is handling around 80 negotiations at any one time.
He points out that in the past year the leisure industry has had just two months of trading in “very restricted circumstances”.
He described how one client, who runs a famous hair salon, is on the point of quitting and how others are simply “handing back their keys” because there is no point trying to continue.
Pubs and clubs “have been absolutely bombed out”.
He also warned of a coming collapse in the commercial office market, with 30 per cent less demand expected after Covid. This could see areas of London such as Soho, Covent Garden and Canary Wharf having to become repopulated, with residential property replacing offices.
He said: “This means that downsizing is the buzz word.
“The need for offices in the future has changed.”