Celebrity chef who endorsed Labour at the General Election warns Rachel Reevess Budget will have a catastrophic effect on his industry
A celebrity chef who endorsed Labour at the General Election has now warned the Budget will have a ‘catastrophic effect’ on his industry.
A celebrity chef who endorsed Labour at the General Election has now warned the Budget will have a ‘catastrophic effect’ on his industry.
Tom Kerridge was one of 120 business figures who signed an open letter in May, saying it was time to ‘give Labour a chance’.
But yesterday he said that the rise in employers’ National Insurance payments imposed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves would lead to a ‘huge amount of closures’ in the hospitality sector.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp seized on his comments, saying: ‘Labour tricked businesspeople like Tom into supporting them at the election by pretending they had no plans to significantly raise taxes.’
Tom Kerridge, pictured, was one of 120 business figures who signed an open letter in May, saying it was time to ‘give Labour a chance’
Mr Kerridge said the in employers’ National Insurance payments imposed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, pictured, would lead to a ‘huge amount of closures’ in the hospitality sector
Mr Kerridge said that he faces additional costs of about £850 a year for each of his 200 staff – about £170,000.
The intervention came as Natwest chief executive Paul Thwaite and Barclays’ CS Venkatakrishnan – who previously defended the Budget – admitted that small firms are struggling to cope with the National Insurance increase, while Andrew Wishart, a top economist at Berenberg Bank, has warned that it could cost 150,000 jobs.
