‘Worse than Covid’: hospitality bosses blame Reeves’ budget for UK downturn
“From a financial point of view, last year’s budget was worse for hospitality than Covid,” says Philip Thorley, who owns 18 pubs across Kent and employs about 400 people,Usually he is looking to recruit staff to help out in the summer months but this year will be different, he says, as the £25bn increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) that came into force in April has been “catastrophic for our company and industry”,He says the fact that Thorley Taverns is now taxed at about £8,000 a week, totalling more than £400,000 a year, means it cannot afford to take on anybody new during busier months,Current staff will have to work harder, Thorley adds, and the extra pressure could affect customer service levels and opening times,“This affects anybody in retail, in the high street and other entry-level jobs, especially young people,” he says.
After the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced the NICs rise in October, business groups argued that they would hit hiring and retention.On Thursday signs of that impact emerged: the latest official jobs data showed that unemployment climbed and wage growth slowed in the three months to May.The trade body for the hospitality sector said data showed it had been the hardest-hit sector since the budget, accounting for 45% of all job losses.The chair of UKHospitality, Kate Nicholls, said: “The change to employer NICs in particular, was socially regressive and had a disproportionate impact on entry level jobs.”Cliff Nicholls, who runs two trampoline parks in Tamworth and Bolton, says his business rates are 240% over what they paid last year, resulting in him cutting about 14 jobs.
Due to high business rates increasing energy costs, Cliff has reduced opening hours, which is what he says is affecting his business the most,Jump Xtreme was open seven days a week all year round, but it has now had to close two days a week during term-time to save on bills,Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionThe trampoline parks are in large buildings, which use more energy than most other local businesses, Cliff says,“Wholesale energy costs, which are largely outside government control, have gone up by 100% in the last four years,” he adds,“I’m hopeful, because the government indicated business rates will be reviewed in the next budget, but I’m not holding my breath given the government’s track record.
”
Two UK charities donate millions to Israeli settlement in occupied West Bank
Two UK charities have transferred millions of pounds to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank with the endorsement of the charities regulator, the Guardian can reveal.Documents show that the Kasner Charitable Trust (KCT), via a conduit charity, UK Toremet, has donated approximately £5.7m to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in Susya, in the Israeli-occupied territory.As the budget of the school increased significantly as a result of the donations, the number of pupils, employees at the school and Susya residents have all increased.Dror Etkes, an expert on Israeli settlement, said: “The school is likely the largest single source of employment in the settlement, and constitutes one of the main elements of the entire settlement’s existence
Hopes of averting doctors’ strike after ‘constructive’ meeting with Streeting
Hopes are rising that next week’s strike by resident doctors in England will be called off after their leaders had a “constructive” meeting with the health secretary and agreed to hold further talks.The co-chairs of the British Medical Association’s resident doctors committee met Wes Streeting for 90 minutes – longer than the hour they had planned – in Westminster on Thursday afternoon.“We had a constructive conversation with the BMA today and we’ll be having further conversations in the coming days to try to avoid strike action”, Streeting said.He urged co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt to abandon the doctors’ union’s plan for the 55,000 resident – formerly junior – doctors it represents to strike from 7am next Friday, 25 July, regardless of the outcome of their next set of talks. It is unclear when they will happen
Patients in England’s most deprived areas wait longer for NHS treatment, data reveals
Patients from the most deprived areas of England face longer waits for NHS treatment and make up a higher proportion of those waiting for care, according to figures.Data released by NHS England on Thursday provides a breakdown of the health service’s waiting lists by ethnicity and deprivation levels for the first time. It shows that people in the most deprived areas of England and people from ethnic minority backgrounds make up a disproportionate and growing proportion of those waiting for NHS treatment.An average of 3.1% of patients living in the most deprived areas had been waiting more than a year to begin treatment as of June, compared with 2
Resident doctors’ pay demands won’t get the public on side | Letters
I agree with Wes Streeting that the forthcoming five-day strike by resident doctors in England is “completely unreasonable” (Resident doctors accused of ‘greedy’ pay demands before Streeting talks, 17 July). It is less than a year since their last pay dispute was settled, following a bitter war that lasted 18 months. Patient care suffered again and again.Tactically propagated via targeted social media, this conflict will rapidly spread across borders to the devolved nations. Therefore we in Wales must also anticipate a cruel and chaotic disruption to NHS care by the autumn
Autism is not an excuse for bad behaviour | Letter
Yet again, the autistic community (which includes me, diagnosed at age 49) utters a collective groan as another high-profile miscreant tries to use their autistic neurodiversity as an excuse for their unacceptable behaviour (Yes, the problem is men like Gregg Wallace – but it’s also those who should stop them and don’t, 10 July).Any autistic person will tell you that they’re no stranger to messing up and embarrassing themselves in a social situation. But they will also tell you how mortified they were, how they apologised or retreated in shame, and then worked extra hard at finding ways to avoid making the same mistake in future.What they never do is gaslight the person making the complaint, or try to shift the blame anywhere but themselves; that is the trait of a narcissist. Autistic people can be narcissists and narcissistic people can also be autistic – there’s no causal link, so let’s please leave autism out of this discussion, as it’s entirely irrelevant
Join the army, work full-time … and now vote: what 16-year-olds can do in the UK
Turning 16 opens up a whole suite of exciting new freedoms. Now, those celebrating their baby steps into adulthood in the UK have another thrilling task for their to-do lists: heading to the voting booth.Thursday marked one of the largest changes to the country’s democratic system in recent times after Labour announced the voting age would be lowered to 16 before the next general election.Scotland and Wales have already made the change for Holyrood and Senedd elections, as well as local council elections, but the move means 16-year-olds will have a say over who becomes prime minister for the first time.For some, the change has been a long time coming, especially considering what 16-year-olds can already legally do:Those aged 16 and 17 can join the British army as a junior soldier, where they will learn survival skills including handling and firing weapons
Trump calls Fed chair ‘a numbskull’ who ‘makes it difficult for people to buy a house’
Ofwat to be abolished as ministers look to create new water regulator
Risk of undersea cable attacks backed by Russia and China likely to rise, report warns
Inside Elon Musk’s plan to rain SpaceX’s rocket debris over Hawaii’s pristine waters
The Open 2025: sensational second-round 64 gives Scheffler outright lead – live reaction
Lions desperate for fast start in Test that will set the tone for Australia series