Cut business taxes to tackle youth unemployment, Chancellor urged, as celebrity chef Tom Kerridge takes VAT campaign to Downing Street

The Chancellor must make it ‘easier to create entry-level jobs’ for the young after the ‘disaster’ of Labour’s last two Budgets, business leaders have said.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) urged John Healey to give firms ‘breathing space’ to bolster confidence, unlock investment and tackle Britain’s youth unemployment crisis.

The business lobby group joined calls for Rachel Reeves’ £25billion national insurance tax raid on enterprise to be rolled back ‘to reduce employment costs and support routes into work’.

The intervention came as campaigners led by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge presented a petition to Number 10 calling for VAT on hospitality to be cut from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.

Business is piling pressure on Healey to act after Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Machin branded Labour’s last two Budgets ‘a disaster’.

Writing in the Daily Mail on Saturday, Machin highlighted the national insurance hike which saw the levy raised from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent and the threshold at which it kicks in from £9,100 to £5,000.

He urged Healey to 'start unravelling’ Reeves’ mistakes and 'get Britain growing by taking the handcuffs off business and putting money back in people's pockets'.

Echoing the M&S chief’s rallying cry, the CBI last night pressed the Chancellor to raise the national insurance threshold to £6,000 to lower the cost of hiring staff while also calling for action on electricity bills for industry and business rates.

CBI chief Rain Newton-Smith said: ‘Business does not need another reason to wait – it needs a reason to invest. This Budget should cut the costs holding firms back, simplify the tax system and make it easier to get investment moving. 

'Get those conditions right and businesses will respond with more jobs, more investment and stronger growth across the country.’

Calling for action in the Budget on October 28, she added: ‘Business does not need another reason to wait – it needs a reason to invest. 

'This Budget should cut the costs holding firms back, simplify the tax system and make it easier to get investment moving. 

'Get those conditions right and businesses will respond with more jobs, more investment and stronger growth across the country.’

Celebrity chef leads calls for VAT cut for hospitality

Campaigners led by Tom Kerridge presented a petition to Number 10 yesterday backed by more than 400,000 people calling for taxes on hospitality to be cut.

The chef, who is a familiar face on cooking television shows including Saturday Kitchen and Bake Off, is leading calls for VAT to be cut from 20 per cent to 10 per cent for the industry.

Kerridge, whose venue The Hand & Flowers was the first gastropub in the UK to be awarded two Michelin stars, said: ‘We all want to turn closures into openings, lost jobs into new jobs and shuttered shops into thriving high streets. A VAT cut for hospitality delivers that.’

Kerridge said it was ‘important’ to deliver the petition to 10 Downing Street before the Budget, which he did alongside the bosses of trade groups UK Hospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association and the British Institute of Innkeeping.

The petition has been signed by 401,250 people, including the bosses of independent venues and members of the public. It has also been backed by the bosses of restaurant group Wahaca and pub chain Greene King.

Hospitality operators say they are struggling to make ends meet due to high costs ranging from energy, wages, National Insurance contributions, food, beer duty and business rates.

Kerridge has previously accused the Government of 'making it harder to run a hospitality business in Britain' than compared with rival European countries, which charge lower rates of VAT on the sector.

Ireland cut its VAT rate for hospitality from 13.5 per cent to 9 per cent in July while France, Italy and Spain have a 10 per cent rate.

Union barons join fight for High Street

High Street bosses and union chiefs have joined forces in last ditch plea to stop another punishing tax raid on shops.

The Retail Jobs Alliance (RJA), whose members include Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Asda, B&Q owner Kingfisher and Primark, called for all physical stores to be excluded from a hike in business rates.

Its members, which together employ nearly one million people, have been joined by the shop workers’ union Usdaw.

The plea follows crunch talks between the industry and Chancellor John Healey on Downing Street this week where bosses warned further hikes would push up prices and cost jobs.

Joanne Thomas, Usdaw general secretary, said: 'Job security is a key priority for our members. We support the Government’s commitment to growth in every postcode and the retail sector has a significant role to play in delivering this. 

'We welcome the action the Government has already taken in reducing business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues. Alongside this, Labour has a manifesto commitment to level the playing field between in-store retail and online giants. 

'So, confirmation from the Chancellor that the Government will be producing a high streets strategy is welcome, but it is essential that it is linked to the wider industrial strategy, including exempting large retail premises from the higher rates multiplier.'

The RJA claims that cost pressures already in the system could cause 90,000 job losses in the retail industry over the next five years.

Further tax hikes would intensify the crisis just as businesses are trying to help tackle worrying youth unemployment increases, retailers added.

Retailers have cited the high cost of employment - related to inflation-busting rises in the minimum wage and a surprise increase to National insurance contributions for firms - as a major headache.

The war in the Middle East has also driven up the costs such as ingredients and energy.

Large retailers have been particularly concerned that Andy Burnham's promise to cut business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues will be funded by hitting supermarkets with a so-called 'warehouse tax'.

But it has been reported that this is not in Healey's plans for the Budget.

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