The problem is not just the scale of Labour’s tax plans – it’s the fact that they were avoidable
The summer is drawing to a close. It’s been a good one. The weather has been great – unless, of course, you run a farm. But as the holiday months give way to cooler evenings and longer shadows, the signs are already pointing to an autumn of discontent.
In a few weeks, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, will deliver her second (or arguably third) Budget in less than a year. The last two were sold as bold resets, but damaged confidence and worsened the economic outlook.
This one is rumoured to bring more tax rises – stealthy and not-so-stealthy taxes that will hit homes, pensions, small businesses and family inheritances. We’ve been here before but the lessons have not been learned.
Last November, Reeves told a room full of business leaders at the CBI conference that she would not be “coming back with more borrowing or more taxes”. Now, after a £70bn spending surge, falling tax receipts and a £50bn black hole she dug with her own shovel, she is doing what she said she wouldn’t do – coming back for more taxes.
The problem is not just the scale of Labour’s tax plans. It’s the fact that they were avoidable. Britain did not need to become the only G7 country with rising inflation, stalling growth and surging borrowing costs.
We got here because Labour stuck to its own ideological instincts – more spending, more government, more tax – without any serious plan for growth.
Labour is going wrong because it is following its principles. We went wrong when we failed to follow ours. This is not just a line to take. It’s a reflection on what the last few years have taught us. The Conservative Party is under new management. We know what went wrong, and we have the experience to fix it.
We learned the hard way what happens when budgets aren’t balanced, based on hope rather than reality. Sadly, the country is now learning what happens when people with lots of rhetoric, little political understanding and no business experience are given free rein over the economy. We must not make this mistake again.
Labour’s instincts have always leaned toward redistribution rather than dynamism. That’s exactly what we’re seeing now. With employer National Insurance hiked, growth contracting and government spending outstripping tax receipts, Reeves’ answer is to raise even more, targeting pensions, homes, and savings.
Meanwhile, gilt yields are at their highest in 25 years. Investors are treating Britain as riskier than Italy or Spain. That is the price of her economic mismanagement.
I reject the idea that higher taxes are inevitable. Labour is not dealing with a pandemic or a new war in Europe like we did. Its tax rises, whether on family farms or VAT on private schools or family businesses, are a political choice – and they are the wrong one.
Growth won’t return through tax raids
Conservatives take a different approach. We believe in cutting spending, not raising taxes. We believe the state should live within its means. That means a full review of public spending, a serious commitment to deficit reduction, and a freeze on the constant expansion of government. These are not easy decisions, but they are the responsible ones.
We would also resist attempts to raid the wealth of hard-working families. The so-called “death tax”, abolishing the seven-year inheritance rule, is an attack on those who do the right thing. Likewise, taxing the capital gains on main homes, or stripping away pension tax relief, punishes people for saving and planning for the future.
Growth won’t return through tax raids and political slogans. It comes through the private sector – through job creation, investment and enterprise. That’s why we would back targeted tax cuts. It’s why we want to make things easier for employers that stimulate growth and investment. It’s why we would cut red tape, reform housing and energy, and remove the barriers stopping Britain from building again.
We’ve been here before. After the Winter of Discontent in the 1970s. After the financial crisis in 2008. In both moments, it fell to the Conservative Party to steady the ship, restore confidence, and lay the groundwork for recovery. It will fall to us again. Other parties may channel the country’s righteous anger, but their promises are empty and their plans as bad as Labour’s.
As we head into the autumn, the public deserves honesty. This Government promised no more tax rises. It promised fiscal discipline. Instead, it is now preparing the ground for a fresh round of hikes on everything from savings to property.
If Labour goes ahead with what it is briefing, it will not just be breaking promises. It will be making everything worse.
