New Harrogate Lib Dem candidate claims town's bars and restaurants being let down by energy bills policy

Tom Gordon, who was announced recently as Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dem’s choice to attempt to take the constituency off the hands of the Tories for the first time since 2010, claimed Harrogate’s hospitality sector would be hit by a major financial headache when the Government reduced its support for firms’ energy bills from April.

Mr Gordon, 28, who works for a national carers charity and is leader of the Lib Dem group on Wakefield Council, claims, as a result, 175 businesses in Harrogate and Knaresborough will face an additional £826,335 energy bill .

"The Government has failed us all on the energy crisis, now businesses are facing a cliff edge this year,” said Mr Gordon.

"Harrogate and Knaresborough pubs, restaurants and cafes have endured so much already, people will be devastated to see any more harm to our local high streets.

"In January I spoke with local business leaders at a Harrogate and District Chamber of Commerce event.

"While the challenges businesses are facing is varied, worries about the impact of energy prices were universal.”

Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems say, according to official statistics, there are 175 pubs, restaurants and cafes in Harrogate and Knaresborough set to face a rise in energy bills of thousands of pounds each.

The party’s analysis claims that the average bill increase per business in this area is likely to be £4,722.

Mr Gordon is calling for the Government to do more to help businesses.

“Ministers in Westminster must not wait a moment more,” he said.

"Liberal Democrats are calling for them to intervene and think again.

"If they don’t, we could see more businesses, including pubs, restaurants and cafes, simply going bust."

The Government initially capped the cost of business energy but from April firms will instead get a discount on wholesale prices equivalent, Mr Gordon says, to a 90% cut in Government support.