Former Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride branded Rachel Reeves’ promise of no further tax rises as “foolhardy”, warning the Chancellor has “boxed herself in” with the pledge.
Speaking at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) conference earlier this week, Reeves insisted she was “not going to have to come back for more” taxes after pushing the burden on Britons to what is believed to be the highest level ever.
Speaking to GB News, Stride said: “Well, the awful situation of this so-called £22billion black hole is being comprehensively debunked by the Independent Office for Budget Responsibility.
“So I don’t think we should give that much credence. What this government did was it went into a general election reassuring the electorate it was not going to be putting up taxes left, right and centre.
Mel Stride said The Chanvcellor has “boxed herself in”
GB News
“It then got elected and promptly proceeded with the plan that it always had, which was a huge spending splurge with a huge eye watering increase in taxes, particularly on businesses and jobs through National Insurance.
“And what that’s doing, of course, is hitting growth, which is the very thing that this government says it’s completely committed to.
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“I think it was probably foolhardy of the Chancellor to have said to the CBI, there will be no more tax rises in the future.
“I am fearful that for a variety of factors, not least some of the pressures we might get from Donald Trump and tariffs in the White House, and various other things that might make the public finances very difficult in a year to 18 months time.
“She has once again boxed herself in. But let’s see what happens.”
Reeves has defended her recent Budget, which included a £25billion increase in employers’ national insurance as part of a broader £40billion tax-raising package.
Reeves told the conference that public services would need to “live within their means” between now and the next election.
“If I hadn’t made those difficult decisions, then we wouldn’t have been able to bring the stability back to the economy that is desperately needed,” she said.
Business leaders reacted with fury to Reeves’ Budget, with the CBI saying two-thirds of its members were slashing recruitment plans. CBI chairman Rupert Soames said business had been treated as a “cash cow” to be “milked”.
Salman Amin, chief executive of McVitie’s parent company Pladis, told the conference that the case for investment in the UK was ‘becoming harder to understand’.
Retailer Halfords signalled it could raise repair garage prices after the Budget sent its wage bill soaring by around £23million.
AO chief executive John Roberts was equally scathing, telling BBC Radio 4: “I don’t think there’s very much that’s reassuring frankly at the minute. I don’t think that it’s a job creation, and I don’t think that it’s a growth budget.”
The Budget is expected to drive inflation back above 3 per cent next year, according to the Bank of England, potentially forcing interest rates to remain higher.
With the economy now showing signs of strain, Oxford Economics’ Andrew Goodwin suggested the “Chancellor will come under pressure to implement further tax hikes” as soon as April.
