The failure to actually grasp the reality of the situation that all hospitality businesses are being fundamentally walloped with rates increases doesn’t really bode well for her getting to grips with a solution that’s going to alleviate pressure on pubs.
I’ve said it before - pubs do not exist in a vacuum, and to pretend that the fate of restaurants, hotels and cafes has no impact on the wider pub sector is a nonsense. If the Government wants to fix the mess it needs to act now, and immediately put a stop to the killer rates rises, while undertaking proper root and branch reform of the whole system.
For her to refuse to consider the hospitality sector as a whole eco-system and to cherry pick certain parts, probably cos she’s worried about being barred from her local (actually who am I kidding, she’s never set foot in a pub outside of a photo-op), is not going to lead to any kind of meaningful solution.
Not that we’re seeing any sign of any solutions, meaningful or otherwise.
Two weeks have passed since the sector was promised some kind of U-turn in the “coming days”. Now I’m not sure what your definition of “coming days” is, but it’s clearly different to Rachel Reeves definition.
So while she’s out in Davos, playing the junior statesman to Sir Keir’s, well, also junior statesman, the pub sector sits on the brink, anxiety spiking as debts increase, waiting to hear whether it’s going to get any crumbs from the Treasury’s table.
Businesses are making decisions to close now, not in the “coming days” - they can’t afford to hold on anymore for weak promises from a Government widely noted for its exceptional abilities to make poor decisions, particularly when it comes to business.
The hospitality sector is haemorrhaging jobs, many of which would have been first jobs and initial steps on the career ladder for young people, yet according to the Government, they see no correlation between their fiscal decisions and the rapidly rising levels of unemployment.
Reeves needs to get off her arse, back on a plane and sort out the mess she’s left this country in, and not in the “coming days”. Now.