Hotel operator Steve Perez has claimed Sir Keir Starmer lied to his face over taxes, saying the Prime Minister pledged to reform business rates and told him he had “nothing to fear from Labour”. The Telegraph has the story.

The businessman, who runs a string of upmarket hotels and restaurants in the East Midlands, criticised the Prime Minister over the Government’s stealth raid on the hospitality sector.

Mr Perez accused Sir Keir of a betrayal. He said the Prime Minister assured him before last year’s election that he had “nothing to fear from Labour”.

In particular, Mr Perez claimed Sir Keir had pledged to reform business rates if Labour came to power, acknowledging at the time that the property tax system was damaging the hospitality sector.

However, Mr Perez – who also runs Global Brands, the drinks company behind Hooch and Franklin & Sons – said this was a lie.

Instead, he said hospitality businesses have received the “opposite of support” from Labour, which has abandoned the “very sector that keeps Britain’s high streets alive”.

His criticism stems from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to overhaul business rates in her Budget last month, which is poised to drive up the hospitality sector’s tax bills rather than reduce them.

UKHospitality estimates that, on average, pubs will face a £1,400 rise in their property tax bill next year.

Mr Perez said one of his hotels will be struck by a £45,000 increase despite only having 27 bedrooms.

He said: “This is the straw that’s going to break the camel’s back for many hospitality businesses.

“The worst thing is, this has been done through the back door because I listened to the Budget and Rachel Reeves said it was going to be a golden era for hospitality.”

He said he was joining a growing campaign among pub and restaurant chiefs to ban Labour MPs from their premises, adding that the hospitality sector was “as angry as the farmers had been” when the Chancellor unveiled her inheritance tax raid last year.

Read More: Starmer Lied to My Face Over Tax Raid, Says Hotel Owner