Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown took time out of his busy schedule today to welcome members of the Labour Party to Brighton for their annual conference. He had extended a similar courtesy to the Green Party who had their national conference in Brighton earlier this month along with a warning about parking costs in the City driving tourists away.
The conference which opened today at the Brighton Centre continues till Wednesday.
Mr Kirby, said:
“I am pleased to welcome Labour members to Brighton for their conference and I am sure that they will enjoy everything the city has to offer! They will be very welcome in a city which is seeing the return of economic growth and business confidence as well as plummeting unemployment.
“I am sure that once they have enjoyed the excellent hotels, bars, restaurants and attractions, Labour members will see how important tourism is to Brighton and definitively rule out any tourism tax which would damage the city.
“I am very much looking forward to watching the conference to see if any members of the shadow cabinet will suggest a single policy or idea for Britain’s future, and to see if Ed Miliband can start to assert some control over his party.”
Mr Kirby has expressed concerns recently over any possibility of a ‘Tourist Tax’ being implemented in Brighton & Hove.
Ahead of the conference Mr Kirby sent a postcard to every member of the Shadow Cabinet calling on Ed Miliband MP and Ed Balls MP to rule out a ‘Tourist Tax’ in Brighton and Hove following a proposal by Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP to levy an overnight tax on tourists staying in London Hotels.
Despite the idea being dismissed as “utter nonsense” by Cllr Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Cooperative group on Brighton and Hove Council, any possibility of a similar proposal being implemented in Brighton is causing concern among hoteliers and businesses serving the local tourist economy.
Cllr Warren Morgan, said:
“This is utter nonsense from Simon Kirby; there are no proposals for a tourist tax for Brighton and Hove from Labour, and indeed we’d oppose any such move by the Greens or Tories.
“It is just an attempt by him to distract attention from the half a million people now reliant on foodbanks, the million workers now on “zero hour” contracts, and the fact that over the life of this Tory government people will be £6,600 worse off.”
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