On the eve of Halloween, Keir Starmer confirmed his status as the new Count Dracula of British politics. Sucking the lifeblood out of the British economy to feed the greedy state. The Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves crippling tax increases and irresponsible borrowing have set our great country on to the course of statism and perpetual decline.
Labour had a choice. After their loveless landslide in July, they could have accepted that although in government there was no widespread appeal for their reckless brand of eco-socialism. Politics is all about choices and Labour had theirs. They could have made a choice to work responsibility and reasonably with the finances of the British people. Instead, their destructive, divisive politics break their manifesto commitments and raise taxes on working people to their highest ever level, leaving British businesses to pay the price.
Labour’s plans to raise £40 billion worth of taxes - that’s £1,400 per household - will make the British people poorer and more reliant on the state. This tax raid shows Labour acting as a perverse Robin Hood, taking from the British people, and giving to Unions, the bloated State, and the environmental lobby for their reckless, industry killing, net zero agenda.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warns that this reckless borrowing will yield minimal benefits; GDP will stagnate over the next five years and mortgage rates are expected to rise faster under Labour than under the Conservatives. Labour inherited the fastest growing economy in the world with falling unemployment and inflation at just 2%, yet they are already squandering this economic inheritance.
The British people work hard for what they have, we are a nation of savers, of stoicism, economic prudence, aspiration, and unrivalled potential. We save for our cherished summer holidays, evenings out and enjoy our precious family time after working hard in the week. The British people are careful with their money, and they can expect the same values from their government.
That’s why I’m bitterly disappointed by this budget. It’s shows how out of touch Labour are.
Starmer and Reeves changed the rules to suit the agenda, unleashing a wave of reckless borrowing and pernicious tax rises in-hoc with their Union paymasters that will mean savers, strives and aspirational, hardworking Brits are left to pick up the bill.
The Prime Minister promised to ‘fix the foundations’ but it’s just empty rhetoric that you and I can see through. Raising National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by 1.2 percentage points alongside reducing the threshold companies start making contributions from £9,100 to £5,000 will have a shocking and devastating impact for small and medium sized business.
These £25,000,000,000,000 (billion) rises– in simple terms - a £25bn tax on jobs, will mean a slower rise in wage growth and a sluggish economy. A true ‘jobs tax’ that will be paid for by the British people and British businesses.
Again, the independent OBR agrees. 76% of the total cost from the rise in employer NIC’s will be passed onto workers through lower real term wages. A true tax on jobs and working people…
Families are worried and investors are anxious. The post war economic consensus of tax and spend is broken. The group think of the Westminster bubble is not fit for purpose. The way to grow the economy is not through the clumsy, heavy handedness of the state but to give the British people more control over their lives, fewer and lower taxes, cutting regulation with a smarter state that doesn’t micromanage every aspect of our lives as Labour are hellbent upon.
Just like small business are the backbone of the economy, British farmers are the backbone of our food and supply chain.
That’s why I’m acutely disappointed by the catastrophic betrayal through the rise in Agricultural Property Relief. This Stalinist attack will mean the steep decline of family farms across the country. Labour's very low £1m threshold for APR means most ordinary family farms will be caught in Inheritance Tax. The economic cost of this move will break up many farms and is a terrible decision. It is the end of the family farm as we know it.
So why have Labour gone forward with their plans today? Simply, it’s the politics of jealously and bitterness. It’s a budget written and delivered by a government that has no real-world experience in the private sector or supporting a business.
Starmer and Reeves said the British people could trust him with the economy, but now the public are clear they were duped and gaslight by a government that hid their reckless plans from public view. Their zealous pursuit of reckless taxation and borrowing is now in black and white.
Our tax burden should be reduced, not increased as Labour are doing. I trust the British people with their hard-earned cash when it’s clear Labour do not. The best place for the British people’s money is in their pockets and purses, not with the oversized bureaucratic government that wastes money on quangos and consultants. The problem of the bloated public sector continuing to waste billions every year and then expecting businesses to pick up the bill and fund it all in perpetuity must end. Therefore, it was no surprise to see the new head of the Office of Value for Money is a Non-Executive Director at HS2. What a recipe for success!
A smaller state, with a strong safety net for those most in need is vital to transforming this country. This Budget, a tired re-run of Labour 1970’s policies of tax and spend is outdated and unwanted. Always remember that politicians have a choice, the winter fuel cut for pensioners was a political choice, the attack on small business is a political choice, the attack on British farming is a choice. Labour have lied and the British people won’t forgive them for this Budget, which will become synonymous with higher taxation, more debt, and an attack on aspiration.
