Rick Stein on Masterchef, Criticism, and Hospitality Challenges
Rick Stein shared memories and thoughts with Graeme Green, reflecting on his childhood and current concerns for the hospitality industry.
Childhood Christmas Memory
Stein recalls a favourite Christmas gift from his youth: a push-pedal car. “One year, I was given a push-pedal car,” he says. “I was still tiny, and we were living in the Cotswolds. You sat in the car and pushed the two pedals, and went round and round the sitting room in it. I loved it.” Those days were simpler times.
Industry Concerns and VAT Moratorium
Now, seven decades later, Stein hopes for a more practical gift this year — a moratorium on VAT from Keir Starmer instead of Santa. He expresses concern about the current struggles in hospitality. “80,000 jobs have been lost in hospitality this year. Things aren’t going well in our particular part of the industry.”
“I’m trying to be reasonable about it. I know stuff has to be paid for. What the government is trying to do, I guess, is to increase the tax situation by growth, but doing so by putting National Insurance up just stopped growth. If you’re faced with ever-increasing taxes, you’re going to cut back on labour wherever you can. You’re certainly not going to hire people unless you absolutely need to.”
He acknowledges the nation's struggles but criticizes tax policies aimed at vulnerable sectors. “It seems to me a complete ‘home goal’ to target parts of the economy that are not well-equipped to deal with it. Hospitality is always taken as slightly second-rate way of the national wealth, but tourism and hospitality are so important.”
Summary: Rick Stein emphasizes the critical need for supportive tax policies in hospitality, warning that increased burdens risk further job losses and harm an essential sector of the economy.
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