Rishi Sunak's 'pitiful' £1bn business package slammed 'Not even close to being enough!'
RISHI Sunak's strategy to help British businesses cope with further Covid restrictions has been slammed as "pitiful" as one owner warned the measures are "not even close to being enough."
Rishi Sunak’s £1bn fund is ‘pitiful’ says Dave Mountford
Dave Mountford from the Forum of British Pubs hit out at Chancellor Rishi Sunak's new Covid business bailout fund. Mr Mountford criticised the Government for not listening to business owners in hospitality for over two years about the needs of business to cope with the pressure. Mr Sunak announced a one billion pound bailout fund for British businesses struggling to earn profits due to lack of revenue from the Omicron restrictions that were imposed by the Government. Owners across the country have been calling for more funding as they feel the current bailout fund is not enough to sustain their livelihood's.
TalkRadio host James Max accused Mr Mountford of "barking up the wrong tree" after he gave his opinion on what Mr Sunak should have done to get it right.
Mr Max said: "Rishi Sunak has announced a billion-pound fund for businesses, is it enough?"
Mr Mountford said: "No it's not even close to being enough, it's a pitiful amount it's been viewed in the industry as varying from insulting to derisory really.
"And to put it into context I will receive four grand as a publican, last week I was ten grand down on my week's takings, in the equivalent two years ago.
"What Rishi needs to do to help pubs is very, very straightforward and it's what we told the government two years ago.
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Mr Mountford added: "And that is to revisit the legislation which exists already in this country, which is supposed to protect publicans from the landlords who own the pubs.
"Majority of which are banks, ok, for example, Green King you would know it as a brewery and it's owned by a Hong Kong property developer whose head office is in the Cayman Islands.
"So what Rishi should be doing is going to his mates, because they are people that he does know and he does deal with all the time because he comes from a finance background."
Mr Max said: "But hang on a second, I think this is a non-starter, I think you're barking up the wrong tree."
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Mr Mountford said: "Well I would argue not James because basically.."
Butting in before his guest could finish, Mr Max said: "You've gone on a political rant as opposed to trying to fix the problem, surely the problem that you've got."
Mr Mountford said: "Not at all, no because the problem is there to be fixed because at the moment what the government is doing is dipping their hands into effectively taxpayers money.
"To bail out small businesses when they are already aware that those small businesses are not making the level of profit they should be making."
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"So we’re stepping in with £1 billion of support, including a new grant scheme, the reintroduction of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme, and further funding released through the Culture Recovery Fund.
"Ultimately the best thing we can do to support businesses is to get the virus under control, so I urge everyone to Get Boosted Now.