Double Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge (Image: Getty Images)
Double Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge has warned that the Government’s National Insurance hike will have a “catastrophic effect” on the hospitality industry, leading to huge closures. Fair enough, but don’t forget that Mr Kerridge, who owns and operates the famous Hand and Flowers pub in Marlow, was one of 120 business leaders who signed a letter endorsing the party. He wanted Labour to get into power.
Now they’re there, he’s having to worry whether he can afford to keep paying his 200-odd staff, as his costs spiral by £170,000 a year. Talk about having egg on your face.
What this all shows is that celebrities of all kinds should keep their opinions to themselves. As this proves, most don’t have a clue what they’re talking about when it comes to real-world issues. As the owner of a business, Kerridge should have known what was coming given Labour’s tax-hiking record. But no, he allowed his anti-Tory prejudice to taint any common sense on the issue. And now he’s dealing with the bitter aftertaste.
Look, I don’t have any particular beef with Kerridge. In fact, I quite enjoyed watching his programmes on TV. But I have little sympathy for him and his self-inflicted whining.
Millions of pensioners are worried sick right now about how to heat their homes after Labour snatched the winter fuel allowance away from them. And farmers, whose farms have been in their families for generations, fear their children losing out because of Labour’s tax raid.
How Kerridge, a man who has frequently championed farmers on his cooking shows, doesn’t feel personally ashamed about their situation, I don’t know. Or perhaps he does. But he’s now warning that hospitality businesses will feel the pinch after the “boom period” of Christmas is over, warning companies may not have enough money to “get through the leaner months”.
Well that’s what happens when you vote for a socialist government, mate. You should have stuck to the cooking. Instead, you’ve helped create a for disaster.