Rachel Reeves‘ Tory-supporting uncle has attacked his niece’s Budget for ‘benefits people’ – declaring: ‘I feel she and the government are totally out of their depth.’
Terry Smith, 73, said the country has become a ‘bloody disgrace’.
The retired construction industry boss said: ‘People work hard to make their lives better and all she’s doing is coming back for more and more tax.’
While stressing his niece – who is clobbering the country with £26bn of tax rises – is a ‘really good person’, he said: ‘In my opinion, this Budget was for the benefit people and I don’t understand that at all.
‘She says she’s supporting working-class people – but how is she doing that?’
Mr Smith, of Gillingham, Kent, previously criticised the Chancellor’s first tax-hiking Budget last October, saying: ‘It’s tax, tax, tax – that’s all they’ve done!’
Thirteen months on, he said: ‘The country is in crisis. There are many ways to get out of this, by making people better off, curbing the amount of overspend.
Rachel Reeves’ lifelong Tory-supporting uncle Terry Smith may now back Nigel Farage
Classic car enthusiast Mr Smith believes Labour – and Ms Reeves – are ‘out of their depth’
‘I feel she and the government are totally out of their depth.
‘This government is unfit to run the country. I’m hoping (they) are taken down and there is a general election.’
While praising Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s ‘brilliant’ Budget response, Mr Smith added: ‘Nigel Farage might get in next, let’s give the guy a chance.
‘He doesn’t put up with people who don’t want to work, the waifs and strays. These problems need hard government, which we haven’t got.
‘At the moment, it’s a bloody disgrace, it’s so weak. We’re going down and down.’
Mr Smith accused his niece of ‘blaming the same old things’ such as the war in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s tariffs – and using them as a ‘smokescreen’ for her failure to curb ballooning government spending, on welfare and migrants.
He said: ‘At the first Budget, she said there was a £22bn black hole. With £40bn of tax rises, she said that was sorted, so she wouldn’t come back for more. Now, the black hole is £34bn so taxes are going up again.
‘People work hard to make their lives better and all she’s doing is coming back for more and more tax.
‘She’s doing all this (tax rises) for the backbenchers and for the likes of (Energy Secretary) Ed Miliband, (Home Secretary) Yvette Cooper, (Health Secretary) Wes Streeting and (Education Secretary) Bridget Phillipson.’
Mr Smith – who describes Margaret Thatcher as ‘the greatest Prime Minister I’ve ever known’ – went on: ‘We have a socialist government turning into a Marxist government’.
Mr Smith accused his niece of breaking manifesto promises not to put up income tax or national insurance in a ‘sneaky way’ by continuing to freeze thresholds.
And he described higher council taxes for people with homes worth over £2m as a ‘property tax for people who worked really hard’.
‘If they’ve done all that hard work and paid all their taxes, why should they be penalised?’
Of the decision to charge National Insurance on salary sacrifice pension contributions above £2,000, Mr Smith said: ‘Charging NI on pension savings which help people save for their retirement so they are not a burden on the state doesn’t make any sense.’
He accused Ms Reeves and the government of ‘looking after the people who don’t want to work – or say they can’t work’ through the benefits system.
And turning to the decision to axe the two-child benefit cap, he said: ‘If you can afford children, fine. If you can’t afford them, don’t have them.’
Mr Smith said the government should not be subsidising green energy, because ‘if it doesn’t make money, why do it?’.
Rachel Reeves’ uncle says she is acting to appease backbenchers whilst deterring saving
The businessman said Ms Reeves’ decision to cut the annual cash ISA allowance from £20,000 to £12,000 and increase tax on savings interest and property income meant ‘all areas to save (up) money are being closed off’.
Meanwhile, he said private landlords sometimes take ‘great risks’ – but ‘all this tax makes it not worth the hassle’.
He added: ‘Where can people put their money? Anything you do, they want more tax.’
He called on the government to bring forward revision of business rates to target ‘big warehouses ‘which have to pay very little tax’ instead of ‘taking it out of smaller firms’.
Mr Smith also suggested ‘Shell, BP and these other multinationals’ should ‘be hit with a bigger tax rather than poor old motorists’ whose fuel duty rises in September.
And he claimed people who bought electric vehicles felt they ‘have been conned’.
He said: ‘In previous years, governments wanted everyone to move to having electric vehicles. Now they are charging per mile in tax. They didn’t make this clear when the vehicles were sold.’
Mr Smith claimed VAT being slapped on customers using taxi apps such as Uber was ‘all about helping’ Hackney carriage drivers living in ‘Labour-held areas’.
And he pointed out how Ms Reeves’ flagship train fare freeze ‘doesn’t apply to railcards or advance fares’ – whilst failing to cut costs such as curbing very large extra overtime payments and so-called Spanish practices where ‘three people are needed to do a job one could do’.
Mr Smith also pointed out how funding for regional mayors, plus the devolved Welsh and Scottish governments was ‘just to satisfy local politicians’ – which will ‘help the Labour party’.
He attacked the £1.8bn cost of proposed identity cards – set aside in Ms Reeves’ Budget – as ‘unnecessary’ when ‘there’s already a system which works perfectly well’
He said: ‘Most people have a passport or driving licence and everyone has a National Insurance number.’
Terry Smith’s verdict in full on Reeves’ nightmare Budget
Income tax and National Insurance:
‘She has raised National Insurance and Income Tax and VAT when she said she wouldn’t be coming back for any more. She said she wasn’t increasing income tax for working people, she wasn’t increasing NI. She’s very cleverly disguised these matters.
‘What she’s actually doing, as wages increase, is more people go into higher tax bands. It’s a sneaky way of increasing the tax.’
Salary sacrifice pension contributions
‘Then you’ve got pensions where they’re going to start charging NI. Charging NI on pension savings to help people save for their retirement so they are not a burden on the state doesn’t make any sense to me.’
Council tax rise for bigger homes:
‘We have this property tax for people who worked really hard and put their neck on the block so they could afford to buy higher priced properties.
‘Why should they have to pay £2500 a year if their house is worth £2m or £7500 a year if their house is worth £5m? If they’ve done all that hard work and paid all their taxes, why should they be penalised?
Benefits and two-child benefit cap
‘They are looking after the people who don’t want to work – or say they can’t work. I know people on benefits who say they can’t work. When I ran my construction firm, I had people ask for a day off so they could go for an interview for benefits. It’s a total fiddle.
‘Spending £2.5-£3bn on axing the two-child benefit cap: If you can afford children, fine. If you can’t afford them, don’t have them. I am aware of young girls who get pregnant so they don’t have to work. This (change) gives them no incentive to work.’
Energy subsidy:
‘I don’t understand why it should cost the state. I’ve lived in Grimsby and Cleethorpes and it’s now the wind energy capital of Europe. If it doesn’t make money, why do it?’
Savings:
‘The cash ISA allowance is down to £12,000 from £20,000 – there’s no incentive to save above that. All areas to save (up) money are being closed off. It’s ridiculous.
‘They’re putting tax bands up 2% when normal working people are trying to be better off when they are saving or investing in other properties. Where can people put their money? The government wants to tax you wherever you put it. Anything you do, they want more tax.’
Business rates (being reevaluated next year):
‘There are big warehouses owned by Amazon, all the big supermarkets, which have to pay very little tax – hit them rather than them taking it out of smaller firms.’
Fuel duty:
‘They are going to put it right back up – but why can’t Shell, BP and these other multinationals be hit with a bigger tax rather than poor old motorists?
‘We pay a massive amount of road tax but my car’s forever being knocked driving through potholes.’
Electric vehicles:
‘In previous years, governments wanted everyone to move to having electric vehicles.
‘They are charging EVs 3 pence per mile in tax. They didn’t make this clear when the vehicles were sold. People who bought them have been conned.
‘I have friends who bought EVs and now feel they are being persecuted. One does 20,000 miles. This and other taxes (VED and ‘expensive car supplement’) will cost him £2,000 a year. It’s absolutely ridiculous.’
Train fares:
‘They say they’ve been frozen but that doesn’t apply to railcards or advance fares. Network Rail workers get double, treble time over Christmas.
‘I know 5 people who have worked over Christmas and ended up being stood around drinking cups of tea, or they’ll need three people to do a job one could do. There could be efficiencies.’
Landlords:
‘I used to have properties and I have friends who still have. You save and invest in real estate but you take risks in doing that, which can be massive.
‘Most people are not going to be paying the 22 pence tax rate, it’s going to be 42p or 47p. One person I know, who lets out a lovely flat in Islington, he said ‘I’m going to put it on the market. All this tax makes it not worth the hassle’.’
VAT rise on private hire taxis such as Uber:
‘I use Uber and they are absolutely brilliant. You know what you are paying for the journey.
‘Their taxi drivers work hard and provide a good value service. I don’t use black cabs because they are too expensive. If you are sat in traffic, the costs just go up and up.
‘There are a lot of Hackney carriage drivers in Labour-held areas and helping them is what this is all about.’
Library funding/ school portakabins pledge:
‘She mentioned how there was a lack of libraries when she was at school but that was 30 years ago. She’s got to get over that – they aren’t necessary. I’ve children, grandchildren but I never see them in a library.
‘They’ve laptops, electronic devices and can find out anything they want. If they want a book, they order it online.
‘She also spoke about school portakabins. They are fine, they are perfect.
‘They’ve got heating, lighting, everything you need. I have done work for schools in South London and many of their classrooms are portakabins. They work fine.’
ID cards:
‘Most people have a passport or driving licence and everyone has a National Insurance number. If you want to check if someone is legal to work, you can check that. I realise they have to crack down on all these back street places but why spend more money on a new system when there’s already a system which works perfectly well?’
NHS:
‘I don’t understand what they are doing with all the money. You can never get a doctor’s appointment and have to go through a receptionist to say what you want to discuss. I remember a time when a GP would come round to your house.’
