@ArtieKat Since 2020 the hospitality sector has enjoyed a VAT holiday and a substantial discount in business rates that was not available to any other operator on the high street (the "tax burden" described is largely due to the gradual rolling back of this discount). I do not agree with National Insurance full stop, let alone the chancellor's decision to increase it, but the current travails of the pub industry are not due solely to tax as their advocates would have us believe. Inflation, high energy costs, and changing consumer habits are at least as important as tax. When public money is thrown at the industry it mainly ends up.in the share dividends of Wetherspoons, Greene King, Marstons, et al, who collectively have done more to screw over the independent landlord than any recent government. It is not clear to me why the taxpayer has to subsidise low paid employment. Let the market decide and let pubs stand on their own feet . . regular drinking in traditional pubs is not a priority among many younger people, the same folk who will have to foot the bill for this largesse in the long term.

@SunshineGirl I'm not going to argue with you