With a Budget many small business operators and, particularly, pub and bar operators will regard as one of the worst in living memory, Reeves has driven the final nails home for many struggling companies.
Hyperbole? I don't think so. As Steve Alton at the British Institute of Innkeeping said, a recent survey of members showed only one in four were profitable, adding yet more costs into the mix is hardly going to improve that.
Was it any great surprise? Not really. The Government had been laying the groundwork for months about black holes and a pending “grim” Budget, so no one was expecting to be popping the Champagne.
Massive kick in the teeth
However, the decision to reduce the relief on business rates was a massive kick in the teeth and one we were all hoping to avoid after focused lobbying by the trade associations. Adding 40% back onto the rates bill, while dangling the carrot of reform in 26/27 is a shock.
Yes, it’s great the Government is promising reform but there are no details and it's way down the road. Meanwhile, the costs kick in from April... not exactly a great exchange.
And that's before we consider the increased labour costs. Whopping rises on minimum wages and increases on employers’ national insurance contributions.
Customers expecting cheaper pint
How on earth do these idiots in Government think those costs are going to be covered? Yup, inflation, which, last time I checked, is not considered a good thing.
But the real sting in the tail for me, and many in the trade, was the jubilant reveal that, despite adding crippling costs to everyone's businesses, Reeves and her gang were going to pull a final rabbit out of the hat with a reduction in draught beer duty, knocking a whole penny off the cost of a pint.
While this might have been greeted with cheers from those divorced from reality in the palace of Westminster (with it's subsided beer, don't forget) it was met with cries of fury from the pub operators who now, not only have a barrage of costs to deal with, will have customers expecting a cheaper pint.
The final kick in the mush from the “pro-business” party of Government… I might be a little bit angry.
