{"id":6130,"date":"2026-05-22T20:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T20:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/?p=6130"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:47:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:47:53","slug":"business-rates-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/?p=6130","title":{"rendered":"Business Rates Question"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"6130\" class=\"elementor elementor-6130\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1751a98 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1751a98\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e8908de elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e8908de\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"relative basis-auto flex-col -mb-(--composer-overlap-px) pb-(--composer-overlap-px) [--composer-overlap-px:28px] grow flex\"><div class=\"flex flex-col text-sm\"><div class=\"qMYqUG_convSearchResultHighlightRoot\"><div class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:70e356b9-7ddc-4a15-8a6e-53ef76da9987-2\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\"><section class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:70e356b9-7ddc-4a15-8a6e-53ef76da9987-2\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:70e356b9-7ddc-4a15-8a6e-53ef76da9987-2\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-6\" data-scroll-anchor=\"false\" data-turn=\"assistant\"><div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-3 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"><div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"><div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"><div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"0\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"318fbf39-faec-4d7f-8ccf-646f321c450c\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-5\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\"><div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"><div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\"><p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"345\">Sir John Whittingdale raises concerns in the House of Commons about the mounting pressures facing hospitality businesses, pointing to higher energy costs, increased National Insurance contributions and rising business rates. He warns that many firms are already under significant strain and could struggle to cope with further financial demands.<\/p><p data-start=\"347\" data-end=\"648\">Questioning the Government\u2019s proposed overnight fiscal levy, Sir John argues that additional taxation risks placing even greater pressure on the sector. He urges ministers to consult directly with businesses before proceeding with any new measures that could affect their survival and local economies.<\/p><p data-start=\"650\" data-end=\"851\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">The exchange highlights the challenges currently facing hospitality businesses and the potential impact on jobs and communities. Watch the full clip below to hear Sir John\u2019s contribution to the debate.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7170fe4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7170fe4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-00bbb5b elementor-widget elementor-widget-video\" data-id=\"00bbb5b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;youtube_url&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/youtu.be\\\/cAx7HOkIL3o&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;video_type&quot;:&quot;youtube&quot;,&quot;controls&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"video.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-wrapper elementor-open-inline\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-video\"><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sir John Whittingdale warns hospitality businesses face severe pressure from energy costs, National Insurance rises and business rates, and urges ministers to consult firms before introducing an overnight fiscal levy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speeches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6130"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6136,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6130\/revisions\/6136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}