Scottish Government Backs #VATSTHEPROBLEM Campaign

 As a result of the industry-wide open letter, which was signed by the likes of Tom Kitchin, Lorna McNee and the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, the Deputy First Minister Jennifer Gilruth has written to the UK Government backing the campaign and urging it to listen carefully to the sector’s calls.

Calum Kerr MSP, has written to the Prime Minister on behalf of the SNP. As part of his letter, he wrote:

“As you will be aware, the #VATsTheProblem campaign is calling for a VAT cut on hospitality to 10% at the upcoming Budget. This is something the SNP has consistently called for and we are proud to stand behind that campaign with the Deputy First Minister having written to the Treasury last week too.

“I therefore urge you to use the forthcoming Budget to introduce a 10% VAT rate for hospitality across the UK. I hope you will give this proposal the serious consideration it deserves and commit to reducing hospitality VAT to 10%.”

Responding to this backing from the Scottish Government and SNP, chef and campaign ambassador Tom Kitchin said: “It’s fantastic to see the Scottish Government and the SNP put their full support behind the #VATsTheProblem campaign and join our calls for hospitality VAT to be reduced to 10%, in line with Europe.

“We saw just last week the enormous support from across Scottish hospitality for a fairer VAT rate for the sector and you only need to look at the 390,000 supporters the campaign has amassed to understand just how many people believe it is necessary to support their local hospitality venues.

“I hope we will see the other political parties in Scotland and MSPs back the campaign, as well as Scottish MPs, to put even more pressure on the UK Government to act.”