It became abundantly clear that the Labour Government had manufactured a £2.4 billion black hole in the local government budget. To fill this, the Government is planning on rising the taxes on companies and organisations, whether they are on the high street or out of town. They intend to do this through the Non-Domestic Rating Bill (NDR).
Sadly this Bill will burden small and medium-sized businesses across the UK with higher taxes and undermine the excellent work being done by local authorities to foster local entrepreneurship and resilient high streets. The NDR will have real world impacts on all manner of businesses, from production firms with warehouses, to sports stadiums and pubs, a great number of premises' will be forking out greater sums to satisfy Labour’s political choices.
Having completed its committee stage, the NDR came back before the House, where I tabled a series of sensible amendments designed to mitigate its impact and to ensure that Ministers revisit this legislation should it prove flawed. Sadly, the Government saw fit to slap down these amendments and the real concerns of the MPs from across the House who are only seeking to make it workable.
You can watch my full contribution to the debate here.
