The Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds has warned that the Prime Minister’s roadmap to recovery has not brought “certainty” to businesses.
The Labour MP warned that many businesses are “simply throwing in the towel” as there is uncertainty and worry over what support the government will provide over the months.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Dodds said that the Chancellor must extend the business rates holiday and VAT during next weeks Budget.
Rishi Sunak has said that he will “everything” possible to protect jobs, and Boris Johnson has suggested that the Chancellor could extend furlough to at least July.”
The Shadow Chancellor warned that Johnson’s timetable to come out of the current lockdown is only subject to conditions on stopping the spread of infections, which has not provided “clarity for business support.”
Dodds added, “Businesses have been put through an enormous amount of uncertainty. They should now know that the business rates holiday will continue, that the VAT reduction for hospitality business will continue.”
She said that Sunak had promised on the 3 March Budget, that he will announce the “support we’ll provide through the remainder of the pandemic and our recovery.”
Dodds added, “I know how incredibly tough the past year has been for everyone, and every job lost is a personal tragedy.”
The current measures in place is VAT for the hospitality and tourism sectors has been cut from 20% to 5% which ends on 31 March.
The business rates also applies to leisure, retail companies and hospitality which ends on the same date.
Dodds warned, “The prospect of not having clarity means that many of those businesses and their owners are simply throwing in the towel.
“And we cannot afford that in the UK when we’ve already had record redundancies.”
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