Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of treating taxpayers as cash cows despite saying he was creating a “Britain built for all”. The Prime Minister was instead slammed for raising taxes for hundreds of thousands of people in the UK.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), said: “The Prime Minister boasted of his vision for a ‘Britain built for all’, but what about pub owners shutting their doors, family farms, businesses on the brink of bankruptcy, or young people facing unemployment?”
Since Labour came into power:
Approximately 378 pubs will close in 2025, equalling 5,600 jobs
The number of people unemployed has increased by 194,000. The unemployment level in July 2024 was 1.48million. In July 2025, it was 1.67million
The number of young people out of work, education, employment or training has increased by 7,000. In June 2024, the number of unemployed young people aged 16-24 was 576,000. By June 2025, this number was 583,000
The number of family farms that could be hit by Agricultural Property Relief changes could be as high as 70,000. This is 33% of 209,000 UK farms
The number of family businesses to be hit by business property relief changes could be 4,941 between 2026-27 and 2029-30, or 8.3% of all family businesses with assets valued at over £1million
Up to 54 private schools are said to have closed in the last year, in part because of VAT heaped on them. Meanwhile, the number of pupils in private schools has fallen by 11,009
The UK is projected to lose 16,600 wealthy people in 2025 because of changes to non-dom taxes
- There have been 104,000 redundancies between May and July 2025.
Mr O’Connell said: “If the government is serious about so-called national renewal, it should be giving working families and hard-pressed small businesses a break by getting spending under control and cutting taxes.”
Sir Keir insisted he would “fight with every breath I have” for “working people” and “the tolerant, decent, respectful Britain I know”.
Speaking at Labour’s party conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said: “People say a nation like ours can’t be a community, that it’s too diverse, too divided.
“I reject that. That goes against everything I stand for, everything I’ve served, everything I understand about this great country I love. No matter how many people tell me it can’t be done, I believe Britain can come together. We can pursue a shared destination. We can unite around a common good.
“That’s my ambition, of this Government – end decline, reform our public services, grow our economy from the grassroots and with resolve, with respect, with the flag in our hands, we will renew this country, until we can say, with total conviction, that Britain is built for all.”
