Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been told she has “secured her place in the history books as Britain’s worst chancellor” by a money expert.
After unveiling her £40billion worth of tax rises in the October Budget, economists have expressed concern about the British economy as it continues to stagnate.
Controversy has also arisen after she removed the fact she had worked as an economist for the Bank of Scotland from her CV and whacked British farmers with a new inheritance tax when they pass on their farms – which lead to mass protests in the captial earlier this week.
Now a money journalist has added to criticism with a stinging prognosis of her time at the helm of the UK economy so far.
Writing for the Telegraph, the paper’s head of money, Ben Wilkinson, said: “At least she can now put ‘Britain’s worst Chancellor’ on her CV.”
He added: “Never has a politician become so unpopular, so quickly.
“Yet it is all well-deserved. Her Budget managed to be both cruel and needless. Nearly a month on and it continues to cause only uproar and despair.”
Ms Reeves also attracted criticism after announcing that the Winter Fuel Allowance (£300) will be restricted to only those who are eligible for pension credit.
The Government’s own estimates forecast that an additional 50,000 pensioners will be living in relative poverty as a result.
This week, Ms Reeves’ changes to inheritance tax have come under the microscope.
In the Budget, the Chancellor announced plans to cap Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) at £1million. Various exemptions mean that a married couple can pass down assets worth up to around £3million tax-free.
But those passing down assets worth more than this will be hit with a 20% inheritance tax bill on everything above that threshold. Thousands of farmers took to the streets this week, warning that the changes could force many to sell their farms that have been in their families for generations.
The Government says that only the wealthiest will be impacted. The Treasury estimates that 27% of farms will be impacted each year but farm groups say a third of farms will face inheritance bills.
In his column, Mr Wilkinson added: “The death tax raid on farmers will simply join the growing list of poor policies that will cause more grief than they are worth.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the inheritance tax changes as well as other policies in the Budget on Friday.
Speaking to BBC local radio, he said: “We had to balance the books, and we had to find the money to make sure that we can put our money into our NHS.”
He added that the winter fuel payments did not make sense given that wealthy pensioners also received it.
