The Budget - a missed opportunity
I wanted to wait a couple of weeks before I commented on the Budget, and see how people and businesses were reacting to it in practice.
I’d hoped for much more. A Government so vocal about pushing for growth should have a tax reform agenda - but there was no sign of that. And a government looking to raise tax from the “broadest shoulders” should have implemented tax rises which hit those on high incomes more than those on low incomes. The employer national insurance increase does the opposite. It will likely end up reducing wages and employment for the lowest paid. That’s a surprising thing for a Labour Government to do.
My analysis here, including a comparison between the likely impact on employees of the employer NICs increase as against the obvious alternative - a hypothetical income tax increase raising the same amount.
Sheer incompetence is what comes to mind. Surely the Labour Party could have engaged experts while still in opposition to develop ideas - I’m sure you would have helped if asked!!
Excellent article as always, thanks. I also don’t understand the logic behind the hand tying of ruling out increases to the rates of income tax, VAT, and national insurance. Especially having done the latter anyway then spending weeks tenuously claiming that they have not. It would have taken a hell of lot more than avoiding any mention of tax not to comfortably win the election. I can only think that it was motivated by greed rather than fear, to win as big a majority as possible. I’m sure the Labour hierarchy and activists were delighted with themselves on election night but now the public suffers the consequences.