Business Rates: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure

Baroness Buscombe Excerpts

Tuesday 20th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I absolutely hear what the noble Lord says, and I understand the points he is making. As I said, noble Lords will have heard what the Prime Minister and Chancellor have said in recent days. I will not add to that now, but when there are further comments to be made, I am sure I will be able to discuss them with the noble Lord.

[Baroness Buscombe (Con)]

My Lords, when we are talking about business rates, are any of the many thousands of Turkish barbers, as they are so called, vape shops and nail bars—which are all cash only and which have infected our villages, towns and cities—paying any business rates? Are any of them paying tax? We know that most of them are about money laundering, organised crime and county lines drugs. They are getting away for free. The whole thing seems to be for free, and they are laughing at us. Meanwhile, our pubs and our hospitality as a whole are on a knife-edge of existence. How is that fair?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I agree with a great deal of what the noble Baroness says. HMRC has announced substantial measures to crack down on some of the businesses she mentioned, and I think she will have seen several of them closing in recent months. She is quite right that more needs to be done. She is absolutely right to talk about the importance of the hospitality industry, and we completely recognise that. It plays an incredibly important role in the UK economy, employing more than 2 million people. It is vital to the life of high streets across the UK, and we will do what we can to support it.