Without a hint of irony, Labour party chairman Anna Turley said on Friday: ‘Our priority is to make sure business can thrive and flourish and that our High Streets are full of life.’
What a hollow laugh that risible declaration must have raised among company bosses in the retail and hospitality sectors who are reeling from this Government’s ruinous tax policies.
Before the election, Labour claimed it would be ‘the party of business’. Every day since it has proved to be anything but.
Two disastrous Rachel Reeves budgets have loaded crippling tax burdens on firms still trying to recover from the Covid lockdowns. The minimum wage rise has further increased costs, while the workers’ rights bill has added onerous regulation and actively discouraged businesses from hiring new staff.
As a result, unemployment is at a five-year high and inflation is expected to be the worst of any G7 country this year. A new British Chamber of Commerce survey shows business confidence plunging.
With a strong hand on the tiller, a recovery could be mounted. But it would require a genuine attempt to free business from its chains and to bring public spending under control. This hapless, ham-fisted Government has neither the will nor the strength to do either.
The central problem is the vast majority of Labour MPs, including Cabinet members, have no experience of running a business nor any conception of how one works.
They have never spent sleepless nights worrying whether they can stay afloat or gone through the pain of having to lay off staff when times are hard.
Sir Keir Starmer (pictured, centre) has performed no fewer than 12 major U-turns since July 4 (file photo)
Two disastrous Rachel Reeves budgets have loaded crippling tax burdens on firms still trying to recover from the Covid lockdowns (file photo)
Most have never even had a job in private industry, having come to Parliament through the state sector, trade unions or charities. They have no entrepreneurial drive themselves and are suspicious of those who have. Business is seen not as an engine of growth but a cash cow to be milked.
Small wonder then that the Government’s business and economic policies are in such a steaming mess. Over 18 months in power, we have seen an almost unbelievable level of incompetence.
Policies are dashed off without a thought to the consequences, then greeted with howls of outrage, then reconsidered, then junked. Sir Keir Starmer has performed no fewer than 12 major U-turns since July 4.
The family farm tax, two-child benefit cap, grooming gangs inquiry, winter fuel allowance and many other policies have been subject to humiliating reversals. The latest display of dithering ineptitude is over the review of business rates announced in November’s Budget.
It was immediately made clear that the steep rises involved would devastate the hospitality sector, especially pubs, hundreds of which would be forced to the wall. Some 2,000 have already gone in the last five years – a body blow to the lives of many communities.
After a vociferous campaign – not least by Labour MPs who have been swamped by complaints from their constituents – the Treasury has relented, and pubs are expected to be spared the new increases.
But what about restaurants, cafes, hotels, and small retailers? They, too, are in a fight for survival and if Labour is serious about growth, they must be saved from this rates apocalypse.
And the next time Sir Keir and his Chancellor are dreaming up new ways to raise taxes, they would be well-advised to consider the consequences first. Better still, don’t raise them at all.
