Hospitality and drinks entrepreneur Steve Perez has launched a furious attack on Labour’s business tax policies, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of “lying to my face” and warning that pubs and clubs are being pushed to the brink.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Perez said the hospitality sector is being “taxed out” after successive Government measures hit businesses hard.
You can’t keep taxing this industry over and over again,” he said.
“We’ve had minimum wage rises, changes to business property relief but the biggest issue right now is business rates. We’ve now been pushed to the extreme.”
“Eventually people just won’t go to pubs and the pubs will close. They’re already closing at a rate of one a day,” he said.
He also criticised what he described as an unfair system that favours big corporations over smaller, community-based businesses.
“A small pub has to pay an extra £800 in rates. My own Peak Hotel is paying an extra £45,000.
“Yet Harrods in Kensington gets a £1.1million tax break,” Mr Perez said.
Hospitality and drinks entrepreneur Steve Perez lashed out at the Prime Minister
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GB NEWS
Mr Perez had previously accused the Prime Minister of “lying to my face” after promising that he would support the hospitality industry.
The founder of drinks company Global Brands and operator of hotels and pubs across the East Midlands, said he met Sir Keirjust 48 hours before the general election and received personal assurances about support for the sector.
“Two days before he became Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer stood in my premises, shook my hand, and assured me that Labour would support Britain’s hospitality industry,” Mr Perez said.
“He told me business rates reform was on the table, and that we had ‘nothing to fear under Labour’. He looked me in the eye and promised help. Keir Starmer lied to my face.”
UK Hospitality has warned that pubs face a closure
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PAThe entrepreneur, who grew up in a pub himself, said the crisis extends beyond business concerns to personal tragedy.
“People are going to lose their homes over this,” he said, adding that publicans often live above their establishments just as farmers live on their land.
Mr Perez accused the government of breaking its pledge to tax large corporations like Amazon and warehouses more heavily to subsidise smaller businesses, saying they have done “the complete opposite”.
Mr Perez has now announced his venues will join a growing protest movement, with his pubs refusing to serve Labour politicians until the government starts listening to industry concerns.
Over 50 establishments have already displayed “No Labour MPs” signs, a campaign initiated by restaurateurs in Dorset.
The British Beer and Pub Association has warned the situation is dire, with approximately 15,000 jobs under threat as nearly 5,000 small pubs face business rates bills for the first time, pushing many to the edge of collapse.
Mr Perez described the increased rates as potentially “the difference between scraping by and going under” for many operators.
“The Government cannot claim to support hospitality businesses while taxing them into oblivion,” he declared.