A couple of pastry chefs attack the chancellor’s right arm

The treats on sale may be delicate and sweet – but one of Rachel Reeves’ henchmen faced a bitter tirade from the owners of a Darlington cake shop when he tried to justify the huge Labour’s tax rises.

Jane and Frédéric Robineau told Treasury Minister James Murray that small business owners were “crying around their kitchen tables” trying to cope with extra taxes and minimum wage increases. Murray, one of the chancellor’s deputies, had arrived hoping to end the government’s plan to make business rates “fairer”.

The visit took place on Thursday at Robineau Café and Patisserie in the County Durham town where the Treasury has a branch in the North. It was the day Keir Starmer unveiled a government plan, called the Plan for Change.

But any hopes that Murray could get away with an easy PR stunt were dashed by Jane Robineau, who said: “As soon as Labor came in, our sales started to collapse.”

“In January there will be an avalanche of small businesses closing their doors, leading to layoffs.”

“You are going to have less VAT, less corporation tax and pay more unemployment benefits to families, to mums and dads who are no longer able to work.”

Murray attempted to defend the government, saying: “The reason we made tough decisions in the first budget was to wipe away what we had inherited. »

Jane Robineau screamed, “Please, please stop.” The couple told him they couldn’t afford to pay “fancy accountants”, nor move their headquarters to low-tax countries like the Republic of Ireland to cut their bills. From April next year, employers’ national insurance contributions must be paid when staff earn more than £5,000 a year instead of the previous £9,100. At the same time, the minimum wage is increasing by 6.7 percent, almost three times the rate of inflation, and tax breaks for businesses are being reduced.

The pastry shop is currently benefiting from a complete business rates relief and will therefore have to pay more from April.

French-born Frédéric Robineau explained how the company, which has 14 employees including the couple, faces a bill of £26,000 a year due to increases in national insurance and the national minimum wage alone.

“To pay for that, we would have to sell 25,000 more éclairs,” he says. “The obvious thing to do is to raise prices, but we have already increased our prices by 5 percent at the start of the year and by 5 percent in September.

“Our costs have exploded. Our customers are willing to pay a limit.

He added that the company already had much higher bills, after a 200 percent increase in electricity and a 117 percent increase in the wholesale price of chocolate.

“You say you made difficult decisions. We think you’ve entrusted us with the difficult decisions,” he told Murray. “For us, it’s a big lump sum.” Frédéric Robineau, 49, runs a pastry shop with his wife of 22 years and a cafe for 12 years Speaking after the half-hour chat with the minister, the Robineaus – who recently launched a delivery service to boost sales – were not convinced their message would resonate in Whitehall. .

Jane Robineau, 52, said: “He’s a typical politician. They must consider the reality of what they are doing. We have our feet on the ground but they really have to listen to us. They could have come and sat down and talked to the companies before making these decisions.

Her husband felt Murray’s responses were “all very scripted”, adding: “You would think Labor in particular would do anything to encourage employment rather than what they have done. It’s confusing. I hope we got our message across so he remembers his visit here.

The government promises a “fairer” system

A “fairer” long-term business rates system will see warehouses run by online giants such as Amazon pay more, with reduced bills for bricks-and-mortar retailers, the government has promised.

Although traders face a greater burden in the 12 months from April, when the current business rates relief – introduced amid the pandemic – will be reduced by 75 to 100 per cent of 40 per cent, Murray said the plan was aimed at helping High Street traders. over the coming years.

“We will introduce a permanent tax reduction for retailers, hospitality and leisure businesses on the High Street, for properties with a rateable value of less than £500,000. These businesses are the backbone of our main streets,” he said. “Obviously the tax system means we have to figure out how to do it sustainably; That’s why we’re introducing a higher rate for large properties with a rateable value of £500,000 and above, including distribution warehouses run by online giants.