News
Sacha Lord launches tax axe campaign to protest new VAT hike
The new hike is set to take VAT to 20%.
Sacha Lord, Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, has launched a campaign to fight back against the government’s latest proposed tax hike.
Lord’s ‘Axe The Red Wall Tax‘ website has been launched as part of a protest against a second tax rise for pubs and restaurants “which will put 12,600 businesses at risk”.
The new hike is set to take VAT to 20%.
Hospitality has lost more than £80.8bn over the course of the pandemic, and Lord says the new tax rise will “hurt the poorest 10% three times more than it will hurt the richest 10% and risks derailing hospitality’s ability to contribute to the UK’s recovery”.
Lord stated: “Britain’s pubs, cafes, restaurants, and hotels have already suffered immense damage since March 2020. Sales across hospitality are around half what they were in 2019, and the sector remains in crisis mode.
“Yet for some unfathomable reason, this Government plans to practically double VAT for hospitality businesses, putting at risk the survival of 12,600 businesses, forcing them to raise prices for consumers and six in ten of them to cut jobs. And it’s in Red Wall constituencies that this tax will hit people the hardest.
“This Tory tax rise is a Red Wall Tax on working class northerners, plain and simple. It will hurt the poorest in our society more than anyone else, eating into the disposable incomes of the UK’s poorest ten percent of people three times more harshly than the richest ten percent.
“I’m not sure why it’s left to me to tell a Conservative Government not to raise taxes, but the road we are going down will do nothing but stifle investment, economic growth and recovery.”
He added: “Despite having entered the pandemic as one nation, the Red Wall tax would mean that we emerge more unequal than ever. This is why I’m launching my campaign to Axe the Red Wall Tax.
“If politicians of all stripes are really serious about levelling up, and helping those parts of the country that have had a poor deal for so long, they need a strong and thriving British hospitality sector.
“The Red Wall tax will kill our industry and is the surest route to levelling down, and I’ll certainly be fighting it every step of the way.”
News
Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre
Daisy Jackson
Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.
Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.
A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.
Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.
It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.
Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.
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Featured image: The Manc Group
News
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
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“Help us be a lifeline to organisations on the frontline,” Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity urged in it’s public appeal for donations.
You can help make sure ‘A Bed Every Night’ is a reality for all by donating here.
Featured Image – EthelRedThePetrolHead (via Flickr)
The Manc -
10th December 2021 
