Pub and Hospitality Sector

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) for securing the debate. Pubs and hospitality are vital to the economy of my constituency. Every year, the hospitality sector in Liverpool Riverside alone has a turnover of £1.7 billion, employing more than 31,000 people.

I could be biased, but I believe that Liverpool is the best city in the world. Our city centre is home to so many world-famous music venues, bars, pubs and other hospitality venues—from The Cavern on Mathew Street to The Casa on Hope Street and The Jacaranda on Slater Street—and to groups from The Beatles to The Real Thing, recently honoured as the first black group to achieve a No. 1. We are a UNESCO city of music; we have dominated the music charts for years, with 56 No. 1 singles, and we were nominated European capital of culture in 2008. We are a city of clubs and bars and of parties. Most recently, the unforgettable Taylor Swift concerts and Eurovision brought hundreds of thousands of people together and generated millions for our region’s economy. The great events and the people who worked so hard to put them on brought over £80 million to the city.

However, years of unprecedented challenges— including the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and soaring food and energy bills—risk suffocating these cultural institutions and this vibrant sector, placing thousands of businesses and jobs at risk across the country. There are unprecedented levels of closures, with an estimated net loss of 300,000 hospitality venues in 2023, leading to thousands of job losses. More than half of Liverpool’s business rates come from the hospitality sector, with small businesses contributing significantly compared with far larger companies in far more profiteering sectors. High taxes on alcohol make it impossible for pubs to compete with cheap supermarket alcohol, driving consumers out of the safe settings of community pubs that help to promote responsible and sociable drinking.

I know I am short of time, so lastly, we must recognise the immense value of our heritage. Liverpool’s pubs are more than just places to drink—they are historical venues, cultural landmarks and community spaces. They must be protected and we must take action to ensure they are not swept away by planning loopholes and profiteering.

Children’s Mental Health Week 2024

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Tuesday 30th January 2024 Westminster Hall

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this very important issue to Westminster Hall. She just spoke about black children. Does she think that this crisis is impacting disproportionately on black children and young people? Does the profession need to look at racism as a trauma, and does more work need to be done to consider those issues and deal with this crisis?

[Dr Allin-Khan]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. Absolutely yes, black people are significantly more adversely affected. The work has been done. We sat together and saw the evidence, and the Government have chosen to ignore the recommendations. Experts have been working for years on understanding the drivers and coming up with solutions. Young black men are four times more likely than white men to be diagnosed with mental ill health when they have entered the judicial system, when their life is over and they have already had their cards marked, as it were. What beggars belief is the fact that we had consensus. We had the experts who did the research. They came and presented, yet we have got nowhere. I am fed up, as are many people here, with the same old soundbites and no meaningful action.

Tonight, many children will be going to bed cold and hungry. More than 120,000 children will be without a home. Let us think about that for a moment: 120,000 children without a home. Millions more are living in poverty in damp and mouldy houses. Parents simply wanting the best for their families are suffering under the sharp pinch of the cost of living crisis. That is the damning reality of 14 long years of Tory rule.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kim Johnson Excerpts

Thursday 23rd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston]

I thank my hon. Friend, because while the US may not be interested in a free trade deal at the moment, we are working with individual states to develop memorandums of understanding. We have already concluded them with Indiana, North Carolina and South Carolina, and are in discussions with California, Texas, Utah and Oklahoma. We are open to further discussions, because there is huge opportunity of mutual interest.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool, Riverside) (Lab)]

Can the Minister explain how the UK can maintain a close and historic friendship with Israel during the current difficulties? Can he let us know what the Prime Minister will do, when he meets the Israeli Prime Minister this weekend, to challenge the sale of goods produced in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories?

[Nigel Huddleston]

I refer the hon. Lady to my answer earlier on part of that question. With our friends and allies, including who we trade with, we raise issues and concerns of interest to our constituents and to the British Government on an ongoing basis, not just in trade and business discussions but through other channels and Government Departments. We are happy to have robust conversations with our friends.