Breaking Rishi Sunak squirms under questioning by former culture minister who says his refusal to scrap the tourist tax is harming the economy EnglishHeadline

Rishi Sunak was yesterday made to squirm by a former tradition minister who warned his refusal to scrap the vacationer tax was harming the financial system.

Dame Caroline Dinenage mentioned the removing of tax-free searching for abroad vacationers was hurting the hospitality, retail and cultural sectors.

The Conservative MP urged the Prime Minister to look once more on the knock-on impacts of the vacationer tax.

She additionally lambasted the Authorities’s failure to make the most of a key ‘Brexit freedom’.

Dame Caroline, who chairs the Commons Tradition, Media and Sport Committee, mauled Mr Sunak as he appeared earlier than the Liaison Committee yesterday.

She mentioned: ‘The Affiliation of Worldwide Retail instructed my committee that the absence of tax-free searching for abroad guests means the UK financial system could possibly be lacking out on as a lot as £12billion in misplaced spending. Ought to the Chancellor take a look at this once more?’

Dame Caroline Dinenage mentioned the removing of tax-free searching for abroad vacationers was hurting the hospitality, retail and cultural sectors

Mr Sunak mentioned that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was already ‘open to getting individuals’s submissions, ideas, analysis and proof’

Mr Sunak mentioned there have been ‘a variety of various views about that coverage’.

However Dame Caroline responded: ‘Do not you assume extra work must be finished? It is not solely retailers who’re affected, it is whether or not vacationers come and the way lengthy they keep.

Mr Sunak mentioned that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was already ‘open to getting individuals’s submissions, ideas, analysis and proof’.

Dame Caroline mentioned: ‘However since we left the EU, it is much less engaging for abroad consumers, it is extra advanced for abroad staff in tourism and hospitality, it is more difficult for abroad faculty teams to carry vacationers over right here.

‘I do not keep in mind one of many promoting factors of Brexit freedoms which means that it could make our tourism trade much less aggressive, do you?’

The Mail’s Scrap The Vacationer Tax marketing campaign, which has gained cross-party assist and the backing of a whole lot of excessive road giants, was launched in assist of the requires the Authorities to assume once more.