First Minister John Swinney and Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay clashed at Holyrood.
by Bill Heaney
All froth and no beer. That’s how Conservative leader Russell Findlay described First Minister John Sweeney’s answers to the business rates crisis currently hitting Scotland’s public houses.
Mr Findlay told the Holyrood parliament this afternoon that businesses across the United Kingdom receive important financial support from Government in the form of rates relief.
He added: “But when that cash reaches the Scottish National Party Government, it spends it on other things such as its £0.5 billion ferries, its £7 billion benefits bill and its propaganda papers on independence.
“Scottish businesses need that cash. They are suffering badly, with hospitality, including pubs, suffering more than most. The SNP has failed to pass on at least £700 million of business rates relief since 2022. Will John Swinney therefore tell us exactly where that money has gone?”
“Those are just some of the measures that the Government proposes to make sure that we support the business community as it wrestles with the challenges that it faces.”
But Russell Findlay was unimpressed: “He talks about the budget, but the Scottish Beer and Pub Association says that the SNP budget falls well short of what is needed for many pubs across Scotland.
“Pubs are closing in Scotland at the rate of one every single week. Almost 300 pubs have been forced to close their doors in the past five years. This week, a new survey revealed that one in seven pub owners are thinking of calling time for the last time.
“John Swinney must take action now to stem the flood of pub closures. My party is campaigning for 100 per cent rates exemption for all small and medium-sized hospitality business, but John Swinney has rejected our calls, so more jobs will be lost, and more communities will lose their pubs. Why he is happy to kill off Scotland’s pubs?”
The First Minister replied: “That is not what the Government is doing. The Government is decreasing the basic, intermediate and higher property rates to deliver a broadly revenue-neutral revaluation over the revaluation cycle. That will mean the lowest basic property rate for properties with a rateable value up to and including £51,000. What I said earlier about the small business bonus scheme applies in many cases, and that is part of an overall package worth an estimated £864 million.
“I can say that the Scottish Government has made a commitment: once we are clear on the consequential funding—if any comes to us from the changes to pub and hospitality relief that the United Kingdom Labour Government has announced in the past couple of weeks—we will allocate those funds in full to safeguard the future of the hospitality sector. We will do that once we are clear about the amount of money that is involved and the financial implications.”
“Stephen Montgomery of the Scottish Hospitality Group says that the SNP Government is punishing Scottish hospitality. He backs my party’s campaign to halt the devastating new tax rises. John Swinney has the power to act, so will he do so, or is he going to call last orders on Scotland’s pubs?”
The First Minister refused to smile: “I acknowledge the implications for business of the increase in employer national insurance contributions. I have made the point on multiple occasions in the Parliament that I think that the Labour Government’s increases in employer national insurance contributions have been a damaging measure for growth in our economy.
“My Government has put in place measures to support the business community as a consequence of revaluation and as part of the support that we already have in place. We will introduce a revaluation transitional relief scheme to protect those that are experiencing the most significant increases in rateable values, ensuring that the gross bills for an estimated 60,000 properties will be lower in 2026-27 than they would otherwise have been. That is part of the Scottish Government’s overall support for the business community when it faces challenges.”
Russell Findlay recalled: “Labour politicians were barred from pubs across the United Kingdom after Rachel Reeves’s damaging budget. Now, one of Scotland’s leading businessmen is calling for SNP ministers to be locked out from their locals, too. Sir Tom Hunter has described the SNP Government’s rates system as being “not fit for purpose.” He said:
“Let’s ban every government minister … from their local pub until the business rates are fixed.”
“I am sure that many punters would raise a glass to that, but we do not want to give ministers an excuse not to buy a round, which is why I have spoken to Sir Tom Hunter. He has agreed to meet me and the First Minister at a pub to hear about Scotland’s pub crisis. Will John Swinney join us to settle this over a pint?”
“To be serious, I accept the significance of the issues. I also take deadly seriously what Sir Tom Hunter says. I engage with him regularly about a whole host of different issues and I welcome his contribution to Scottish public policy and policy debate.
“In every circumstance, my Government will do all that we can with the resources that are available to us to support business, to support the growth and development of the Scottish economy—through its success, investment in it and the bringing in of jobs—and to ensure low levels of unemployment. That is because the Government is on the side of business and the economy in Scotland.”