This morning Starmer has made a desperate attempt to re-launch his flailing administration, but it’s too late. The government has inflicted a colossal act of “self-harm” on UK businesses, and they can’t see the point anymore.
Why bother, when Labour has launched an ideological assault on the private sector?
As I’ve repeatedly explained on these pages, Reeves has destroyed jobs and sent inflation, tax, mortgages, debt and spending through the roof.
Now it’s the turn of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) to point out that Starmer and chancellor Rachel Reeves have destroyed the growth the UK desperately needs to avoid going bust.
Before the Budget, the BCC predicted the UK economy would grow by just 1.1% this year. This morning it slashed that to just 0.8%, blaming Reeves’ Budget tax raids.
Given that GDP grew by 1.2% in the first six months of the year – before Labour took power – that means the economy is set to shrink in the final quarter.
Small and medium-sized business owners are some of the hardest working people in the country. But many can’t see the point anymore.
The BCC’s Vicky Pryce was scathing, warning that businesses are “licking their wounds as the fallout from the tough autumn Budget continues”.
Thanks to Reeves, “investment and jobs will be hit” and businesses now “face a difficult 2025”.
Pryce was being polite.
Head of research David Bharier warned that BCC’s figures “show that most small and medium-sized enterprises are not increasing investment amidst an array of rising costs and admin burdens”.
The Bank of England reckons the Budget will drive inflation back to 3% next year. Others estimate it will destroy 150,000 jobs. Retailers are in trouble as Brits stop shopping.
It feels like we’re all giving up.
This morning, top British entrepreneur James Dyson accused Reeves of inflicting “an egregious act of self harm” on the UK economy, by charging inheritance tax (IHT) on family-owned businesses when owners die.
Dyson is right. I’ve talked to one family that now faces a £26million IHT bill when the founder dies. It will destroy a business that took decades to build.
And Labour doesn’t care.
In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, Dyson said the combination of NI increases and “impossible-to-pay” IHT bills “will kill entrepreneurship, snuff out wealth creation and stunt growth”.
Many of the best and brightest have had enough, and Dyson doesn’t blame them. As he puts it: “Why would anyone start a company in the UK?”
Rupert Soames, boss of food giant Pladis, which owns the McVitie’s and Jacob’s brands, has warned Britain risks becoming “uninvestable” after the Budget.
So what will Labour put in its place? The state. The BCC said the government spending will be the main thing driving economic growth next year.
The public sector is effectively swallowing the private sector. But as growth slows and taxes dry up, where will the public sector find the money?
By taxing the little that’s left, I suppose. No wonder British businesses are giving up.