Brits have blasted Rachel Reeves’s Budget and ‘constant taxes’ after the latest raids were announced.
Electric vehicle owners, pub landlords and the average worker told the Daily Mail they felt the hardest hit, while others said they were fed up of ‘being taxed, taxed, taxed’.
Ms Reeves announced on Wednesday that she is set to raise an extra £30billion a year by 2030-31 – and an eye-watering £12.7billion of this will be from extending the tax threshold freeze for another three years.
Around a quarter of the working population will be paying higher or top rate tax by then, up from just 15 per cent when it was imposed in 2021. The burden is due to reach a new 300-year record high as a proportion of GDP.
People across the UK raised concerns about the burden the new Budget will put on ordinary people – with some saying the property market is now dead because of the £2million mansion tax, and others saying they regretted returning to their home country of the UK because of its finances.
Married father of three Ashey Aziz, 55, who works in sales, had recently returned to the UK with his family after 15 years working in Dubai. He said that he had returned at ‘the worst timing you can imagine’ financially.
‘The reason we came back was education so it was a big hit. We are thinking of buying an electric car but on the back of this, there is no incentive to do so,’ he said.
Others feared that Ms Reeves’ latest Budget would stagnate the property market. A retired estate agent, Ian Standen, said the mansion tax would ‘kill the property market’.
Gary Bellamy, a 54-year-old research nurse from Greenwich, said he was angry that Ms Reeves has increased alcohol duty as he sat outside the pub
Chris, a pub manager at Borough Market, said the increase in alcohol duty will put more pressure on the already-struggling hospitality sector
Joanna, 50, who is from Poland but has worked in the UK since 2011, said she is already struggling and fears tax rises will be the tip of the iceberg for working people
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget announcement today has sparked fury among some, particularly drinkers and smokers
Mr Standen, 76, said: ‘Freezing income tax, well you’re not going to get any growth. The only way out of it is growth, in my opinion.’
Punters have also revealed their fury after Rachel Reeves‘ Budget launched a fresh raid on drinkers and smokers.
The Chancellor pressed ahead with an increase in alcohol duty across the board, ignoring warnings about the fragile state of the hospitality sector.
The Treasury will revert to the formula of raising alcohol duty in line with its forecast rise in the retail prices index of 3.66 per cent.
This will add 11p on a bottle of Prosecco, 13p on a bottle of red wine and 38p for a bottle of gin from February 1 next year, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).
Punters have warned they will no longer be able to afford frequent nights out if pubs are forced to raise their prices – while bosses fear more venues will have no option but to close down when customers stay at home.
Gary Bellamy, a 54-year-old research nurse from Greenwich, said he was angry but not surprised that Ms Reeves has increased alcohol duty.
‘[Alcohol prices] go up all the time, every single budget. She’s turned us into home-drinkers,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Darren Kennedy, a 55-year-old engineer, said he is fed up of tax rises and fears for his future in Britain
Seyon, a 37-year-old tax manager, said he was surprised by more tax rises and feared for the effect they will have on the working population
‘She’s destroying the community nature of where I live, in Greenwich. I see fewer and fewer people going out. It’s the central part of the community, the pub I think.’
He added: ‘It’s creating more isolation, which is a bit of a killer. I think Britain is f***** to be honest. But none of us can get out.’
Chris, a pub manager at Borough Market in Southwark, London, said the rise will put more pressure on the already-struggling hospitality sector, as angry customers will stop coming out.
He said: ‘For the pub industry, it means they’ve got to increase their prices accordingly. That’s going to add £1.50 probably to a bottle of wine.
‘For pubs in this particular area, it’s not so price sensitive – it probably won’t have an effect – but for other pubs which are not in prime locations, I think they’re going to struggle to ask their customers [to pay more].
‘It’s going to be hard; there’s only so much we can absorb […] to keep the businesses profitable.
‘It’s going to be a lot harder to attract customers when there’s less disposable income.’
Chris said he worries more and more pubs will be forced to close down after the result of today’s Budget.
Dwayne Williams, a 65-year-old retired police officer, said Britain’s benefits system is flawed and there is not enough incentive to get people working
‘The government just hasn’t listened. I think it’s going to lead to more pub closures, and probably less footfall in those areas that are reliant, especially community pubs, I think they’ll be struggling,’ he said.
It comes as tobacco duty is also set to rise above inflation, while a new duty on vapes will be introduced next year as planned.
Chris said: ‘For smokers it’s just going to cost more money, of course it is. It’s another annoyance and another way to grab money.
‘To be fair, it does cost the NHS money from people smoking, so if it helps pay for that, then I think it’s a fair enough tax.
‘Anything going up is not good, especially if wages aren’t keeping up with that sort of increase.’
Darren Kennedy, a 55-year-old engineer, said he is fed up of tax rises and fears for his future in Britain.
‘I think Rachel from accounts is just out of her depth; she doesn’t know what she’s doing,’ he said.
‘It’s terrible – it’s incredible – any working person in this country is going to get taxed, taxed, taxed, taxed, taxed – it’s just ridiculous what’s going on this country.
Erin Kelly, of Gateshead, Newcastle, is a 43-year-old owner of a cat grooming business
‘All I seem to do is get taxed, taxed, taxed, taxed, taxed, and it’s just intolerable. I’m petrified – who isn’t? Who in this country isn’t worried about getting overtaxed, again and again and again. How many times do we have to have taxes this high?’
Mr Kennedy added: ‘All rises come as a shock, but Labour is particularly terrible. It’s put more taxes on working people, and it sits there and smiles and claps for itself.
‘The Labour government hasn’t helped anyone.’
Joanna, 50, who is from Poland but has worked in the UK since 2011, said she is already struggling and fears tax rises will be the tip of the iceberg for working people.
Joanna, who works in the juice industry and lives in Peterborough, said: ‘Everything the government is doing is bad and it’s effecting people. It doesn’t matter which people, but usually it’s working people and we don’t have enough income.
‘I’m working 38 hours per week. They’re just taking more and more and more. When I came here and worked by agency, we could buy everything – well not everything, but it was enough.
‘Now you’ve got so many bills, gas electricity, rent, all these bills, and when the government add more taxes to pay, less will be left in our pockets. We’re feeling like they’re just taking, taking, taking.’
She added: ‘We’ll need to work how many hours per week, 70? To just not struggle.’
John Murray, a 57-year-old construction worker, said: ‘The Labour Government are on their knees. They have broken so many promises’
Seyon, a 37-year-old tax manager, said he was surprised by more tax rises and feared for the effect they will have on the working population.
He said: ‘It’s quite a surprising move, given the cost-of-living crisis and everything going on.
‘I think what Labour promised initially has completely changed […] and a lot of people are going to be struggling because of it.
‘It’s a very difficult time. I think at the moment they’re just trying to reconcile all their debts, and it’s not really a smart move to get people on side.
‘From a general perspective, I think a lot of people will feel the crunch.’
Dwayne Williams, a 65-year-old retired police officer from London, said Britain’s benefits system is flawed and there is not enough incentive to get people working.
It comes as the two-child benefit cap is set to be axed in a bid to placate mutinous Labour MPs, leaving around 18,000 large families in line to pocket an extra £14,000.
The OBR said 560,000 families will receive extra cash, costing around £3billion a year.
Beverley Clasby is a 55-year-old company director of a property firm. She said: ‘This budget feels like its a tax on working people’
Overall welfare spending is forecast to be £16billion higher by 2030-31 than the watchdog thought as recently as March.
Mr Williams said: ‘Why should you get out of bed and work, if you can do as [well] by not working?
‘This doesn’t apply to everybody; the safety net needs to be there.
‘But I think it needs to be a lot more stringently applied, the rules, as to who and when are able to get this.’
Meanwhile, people in Newcastle have also hit out at Ms Reeves’ £30billion budget, saying it is a tax raid on hard working people.
The chancellor announced levies on electric cars, properties worth over £2million and pension contributions. She has also frozen income tax thresholds until 2030, and scrapped the two child benefit cap.
John Murray, a 57-year-old construction worker, said: ‘The Labour Government are on their knees. They have broken so many promises.
‘I am at the stage where I don’t trust any politicians any more. It might be time for Reform to take over.
Paul Anderson, 46, who is self-employed and from Newcastle, said: ‘The OBR report has been leaked, which is totally shocking’
‘If you’re on benefits, the Government seem to help you a lot more than if you’re working.
‘My girlfriend works and she has been on a waiting list for a house for ten years. You do get the impression the Government don’t want to help you if you have a job.
‘A lot of people are playing the system, and this financial budget is not going to help the situation. It is going to affect working people the hardest.
‘Freezing the income tax thresholds is going to put a lot of workers into higher brackets, which isn’t fair.
‘It’s the same when it comes to adding national insurance to pension contributions.
‘I know the Government have to get their money from somewhere, but it’s always the hardworking people who get hammered.
‘The 3p per mile tax on electric vehicles will be a lot of money for drivers to find, and it will definitely put people off buying them. It doesn’t make sense at all.’
Paul Anderson, 46, who is self-employed and from Newcastle, said: ‘The OBR report has been leaked, which is totally shocking.
‘But the bigger picture is that you have two choices at budget time, you can either decide to tax more or spend less.
‘This Government has decided since day one, it hasn’t wanted to consider the spending less part.
‘The last budget spooked the markets, when Rachel Reeves decided to put up all the taxes.
‘Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are like a pair of greedy children who are in charge of the country and just say, we want more and more sweets. As people who are just trying to make their way in the world, it’s frustrating.
‘The removing of the child benefit cap is one of the few things in principal I don’t have a problem with.
Ross Traill, a 27-year-old finance worker from Newcastle, has hit out at the tax on electric vehicles
‘I am very much of the opinion, tax little, spend little, but when it comes to people who actually need it, like kids, I am in favour. I am also in favour of the Government spending money on healthcare and the roads.
‘For the first time in my life, I voted Labour, simply to beat the Tories.
‘I voted for the party who taxes a lot, but I didn’t think they’d tax me lots. We knew that Labour liked to tax, and liked to spend, but not quite this much.
‘I think the budget was everything I expected, because most of it was leaked anyway. Even the U-turns were leaked.
‘The only explanation I have seen for this, is that they leak the stuff simply to see how it spooks people.
‘Was this a budget for people like us? Or was it a budget to satisfy the back benchers, so Keir Starmer doesn’t get kicked out in May, when he has another horrible set of local elections?
‘That doesn’t seem like a good way to run a budget to me.’
Beverley Clasby is a 55-year-old company director of a property firm. She said: ‘This budget feels like its a tax on working people.
Retired estate agent Ian Standen (left) with his wife Annie (right). Mr Standen thought the mansion tax would kill the property market
Vince Demarzo, 28, (right) with his partner Rebecca Cody, 29. They felt the Budget would be unfair to high earners
‘The mansion tax is a tax on working people.
‘In the North East, there aren’t a lot of houses which are worth over £2million, but there are some, owned by people who have just worked really hard.
‘I have some elderly friends who live in a house which will probably go into that bracket and I imagine they will struggle to afford it.
‘They have just worked really hard, and they love that house, and want to stay there.
‘I feel like that will force people out of their homes, and the people who buy those houses are generally the really rich people.
‘I don’t feel like it will raise much that is very useful.
‘To me, the Government want us all to save on our pensions, but then they are penalising us for doing it. I can’t make sense of that.
‘The idea of children being in poverty is really quite horrific, so if the removal of the two child benefit cap is going to pull a lot of them out of poverty, that is a great thing.
‘However, at the same time, it doesn’t feel like it is rewarding working people.
‘I don’t own an electric vehicle, but the 3p per mile tax seems bonkers, as I thought the Government were trying to encourage people to use them.
Iwona Taylor (right) owns a skin clinic. She owns two electric scars and now feels that was a ‘scam’
‘I feel like Rachel Reeves is nipping around the outside, trying to get measures in that aren’t as obvious.
‘I almost would rather she just put income tax up and then we would know where we stand.’
Ross Traill, a 27-year-old finance worker from Newcastle, has hit out at the tax on electric vehicles.
He said: ‘We were going to get an electric vehicle but we’ve decided not to now.
‘It’s fairly normal to do 8000 to 1000 miles a year and that would have equated to a lot of money, probably a couple of hundred pounds a month for us.
‘We thought it would be cheaper than a diesel car, but have worked out it won’t be.
‘I think it will deter a lot of people from getting an electric car.
‘I can’t see how the Government are going to hit their target of all cars being electric by 2035.
‘We could afford an electric vehicle, but it’s just not worth it after this.
‘It’s frustrating because my partner and I have bought a new-build house and it has an electric charging point we had planned to make use of. It’s pointless having it.
Stuart Ellis, 51, thought the budget might help those who need it most
‘I would say we are environmentally conscious, but having an electric car will just be too expensive for us now.’
Erin Kelly, of Gateshead, is a 43-year-old owner of a cat grooming business.
She said: ‘You’re better off if you don’t work and you have lots of kids.
‘If you’re on benefits, you may as well stay on benefits.
‘I used to have two businesses but now I just have one.
‘A lot of people are in the same position, they just can’t sustain the costs anymore.
‘I used to employ people, but I don’t anymore, it’s too expensive.
‘The more you earn, the more they take away from you. It’s just not worth it.
‘It doesn’t matter if you are a small business or a multi million pound business, it hits you hard.
‘I do everything I can to keep under the £90K VAT limit. I won’t be the only one, and that is not helping growth.
‘This budget will just make the situation worse.
‘There are hardly any independent businesses on the high street now, it’s too difficult for people.
Pictured: Stephanie, 73, and Adrian, 75. The couple are retired and have two grandchildren. They worry people are now leaving the country because of the economy
‘I am on the highest wage I have ever been on, but the worst off, due to the cost of living.
‘The minimum wage hike is good for individual people, but not for businesses. It will make it more difficult for them to employ workers.’
Roger Turner, 69, a retired van driver, said he disagrees with freezing the threshold on income tax.
This means many pensioners will be pushed into paying income tax for the first time in 2027.
That’s because the personal allowance threshold, which is the amount you can earn before paying tax, is currently £12,570.
He also called Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer ‘disgusting’, adding that they have made ‘many promises’ before getting into the government but are not helping working class people.
He said: ‘The amount that you could earn – they’re freezing that.
‘It’s already frozen for the next couple of years anyway, but I believe they’re freezing it for another 2 or 3 years.
‘But cost of living is growing up and up and up. As a pensioner myself, I know we’ve got the triple lock, but that’s only a minimum, so say, £400 more a year, but they keep trying to stop that.
‘But at the end of the day, pensioners will get nothing else. If they’ve only got that one particular pension, they’re stuck, aren’t they? Because they’re not working, can’t work, they can’t go any higher.
Pictured: Ashley Aziz, 55, returned from Dubai three months ago with his family and now works in sales. He said his return was the worst financial timing possible
He added: ‘They’re always taking it from the lower people. Not the rich.’
In terms of the freeze on the train fares he said: ‘It is like they’re giving you something. But what are they giving you? Nothing.
‘It’s been going up for years, the last five, 10 years, all the time. Well over inflation, and people obviously got to get work if they commute, and they’re all right, they stopped here for next year, but you wait till next year. What would they do? If it went up 2 per cent, they’d probably put it up 4 per cent. So they’ll get it back one way or another anyway.’ Thanks for your time, so can I have your name?’
About the mansion tax he said he didn’t agree with it.
He said: ‘Years ago, there used to be the rateable value of your house. When I first bought my house in Bristol, the first one, cost me £18,000. And the rateable value of that house, I used to pay about £200 a year rate.
‘Now, my house is obviously worth a bit more, because I’ve moved and gone to a bigger house. But the rateable value’s gone. It’s just council tax which they just put a percentage up whenever they can.
‘Now we’re paying £1200. It’s a lot of money, isn’t it? I think it is disgusting. You should all pay the same anyway. Whether you live in a mansion or a small house. I think we should all pay the same. You’re getting the same utilities.’
Phillip Cox, 68, retired mechanical engineer, from Manchester, speaking from Bristol, said: ‘I won’t be affected by the mansion tax. I’m not a high earner, I’m a middle to low earner in terms of pension.
‘Some of the things that Rachel Reeves has outlined will be of no impact to me.
‘I guess the scrapping of the two child benefit cap will positively impact families who have got more than two children.’
He would have liked to have seen more thought towards public transport.
‘People who have invested in electric cars, they may feel the impact a couple of years from now,’ he said.
‘I think they’ve possibly had it good and people who are still owning diesel and petrol cars probably because they can’t afford an electric car, have felt a little bit worse of and now will maybe feel a bit more justified with this milage tax on EV cars.
‘EV cars are quite expensive so you’re either going to have to be a business or a high income earner to afford one.
‘I would have liked to have seen a bit more input into public transport especially in city centres and towns.
‘More free travel for school children, I think would be useful.
‘Those kind of things that would encourage people to use public transport more.’
Michael Humphreys, 44, a structural engineer, said the budget will cost him ‘more money’ in tax as he’s got an electric car.
He believes the Labour government is taking the country ‘on a downward spiral’.
He said: ‘We’ve got an electric car, a plug-in hybrid car.
‘The whole point should be that we’re trying to encourage sustainable driving, you know, people to buy these cars.
‘I think that that’s a negative, really, doing that.
‘Plus, I also contribute to a pension via salary sacrifice, so that’s going to cost me money. We also inherited a house, so I rent out a house, and they’re going to charge more for that, so that’s going to cost some money. It’s a rental property, so rental income is going to be charged higher.
He said he believes the government is not doing much to ‘stimulate growth’.
He said: ‘I think that’s what we really need to improve the economy we need to stimulate, growth.
‘All she sees for doing is taking, not really giving any ideas about how she’s going to prove things.
About the two-child benefit cap being scrapped he said: ‘I wouldn’t discourage people from having more children. I think we need probably to encourage people to have children, and actually if the money’s spent to look after the children, then I think that’s fine. That’s not a bad thing.
‘I’m not particularly happy [with the Labour government]. I don’t think they’re doing a good job.
‘Mainly around not stimulating growth, I think everything’s really negative, and the whole country is just on a downward spiral, I feel.’
Miles Beale, chief executive of the WSTA, called the alcohol duty increase ‘typically disappointing and shortsighted’.
‘Despite the OBR at last acknowledging higher prices lead to a decline in receipts, the Government fails to recognise that its own policy is driving up those prices,’ he said.
‘Amazingly, the Treasury continues to press ahead with its ill-founded plan to pile further duty increases on alcohol.
‘Prices will rise once more for consumers, British businesses will suffer, and Treasury receipts will continue to fall – forecast to be £600million lower than last year and £1 billion lower than was forecast in March’.
Meanwhile, shoppers in the smart stockbroker-belt town of Sevenoaks in Kent reacted to the budget with concerns over high taxation, the property market and people choosing to leave a stagnating Britain.
Stephanie, 73, and Adrian Organ, 75, have two daughters and two grandchildren.
Stephanie said: ‘What is this country going to? This is why people are leaving.
‘When the girls were growing up, we remember it was safe and secure. It makes me so sad.
‘We knew what was going on with the budget. And we knew it was never going to help people who strive to get on and make better lives for themselves.
‘It makes me terribly sad. I knew what was coming.’
Retired solicitor Adrian added: ‘It’s not going to help people like us because the costs are still going to go up. It’s doing nothing. There’s no good news in the economy is there.’
Vince Demarzo, 28, is a sport turf agronomist, 28 who has a daughter with his partner Rebecca Cody, 29. Vince thought the Budget was unfair to high earners.
‘Finances, I think, are a bit of a nightmare for everyone. It’s hard to enjoy what you earn.
‘They seem to be taking it off the rich to give to the poor,’ he said.
Annie Standen, 65, said: ‘I think the problem is these places (Sevenoaks), they look like they’re wealthy people because you live in them. But people are asset rich but income poor.
‘A lot of these people bought these houses when they were not worth £2million and they are now elderly and they are not going to be able to shift these properties.
‘And they’ve had it now and won’t be able to afford to live in them.
‘There’s a huge elderly population and they are now stuck and it’s not going to help anybody and it’s not going to help the young, any of this.
‘They are not going to be able to get on the housing ladder.
‘It’s shocking. The young are losing the will to get on the ladder and are losing the point.’
Her husband, Ian, added: ‘There is nothing in the budget to encourage growth.’
Iwona Taylor, 52, who owns a skin clinic, reacted to the mileage charge on electric vehicles.
‘She said: ‘Well that was a scam. I’ve got two electric cars. Everybody fell for it and now we are going to get penalised for having them.’
Stuart Ellis, 51, from Sevenoaks, reacted to the budget with optimism, saying: ‘I think it might be alright.
‘There’s been a lot of hype about it.
‘I have a sneaky suspicion it will mostly benefit those who need it rather than those who don’t.’
