Pub bosses and business owners today described Labour‘s first Budget in 14 years as a ‘complete disaster’, while drivers and drinkers were left ‘pleasantly surprised’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned beforehand that ‘difficult decisions’ would be made as Labour dropped a £40million ‘tax bomb’ in a move Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says is to ‘prevent devastating austerity’.
After weeks of speculation and leaks, Ms Reeves today became the first female Chancellor to deliver the UK budget – as she outlined Labour’s plan to hike taxes and cut spending in one of the biggest ever raids at a fiscal event.
‘Any Chancellor standing here today would face this reality, and any responsible Chancellor would take action,’ she told the Commons. ‘That is why today, I am restoring stability to our public finances and rebuilding our public services.’
Labour has devastated businesses by announcing a £25billion increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions. Elsewhere, private pensions will be subject to inheritance tax, stamp duty has increased and capital gains tax for most assets has risen.
Offering some relief on hard-pressed Brits, Ms Reeves announced a freeze on fuel duty and increased the minimum wage to £12.21.
MailOnline have spoken to a series of people across Britain to get their views on the Labour government’s first Budget since March 2010.
PUB OWNER: ‘The death of The Great British Pub’
- Name: Simon Delaney
- Age: 59
- Lives : Manchester
- Job: Pub landlord
Simon Delaney, who has owned The Firbank Pub and Kitchen, in Wythenshawe, Manchester, for 30 years, says the rise in employers’ National Insurance Contributions and National Living Wage will cost his business an extra £2,000 a month.
The 59-year-old told MailOnline: ‘It’s definitely not a Budget for pubs or small businesses like mine. The National Living Wage going up, I’m not sure where that money is going to come from. Employer National Insurance coming up, again where does that money come from? We are already struggling to break even.’
He added: ‘There’s a little bit of a cut in beer duty, it’s not enough. And they have extended the rate relief, but it’s only going to be at 40 per cent. I’m not sure what’s going to happen when April comes.’
Speaking about the impact on his business, Mr Delaney said: ‘We’re already in a situation where it’s making it difficult to make the business doable.
‘The government will put up the National Minimum Wage because that looks good for the government, it gets them brownie points.
‘It doesn’t cost them anything and it’s a bit of a red herring because on the last increase, all the employees think it’s great. First of all, where does that money come from? When we’re really really working on very low profit margins some weeks, not even breaking even, where does that money come from to pay an increase in wage.
‘And it’s not just the people who are on the lower wage. It’s everybody, you have to protect your managers, your supervisors, your chefs.
‘We want to pay people for the job that they do. But we’ve also got to be realistic that there isn’t actually any money in the pot to do that.’
Mr Delaney said it would put a ‘massive strain on the business’ and that it would be ‘ridiculous’ for people just starting in the industry to be on the same wage as those with years of experience.
Speaking about whether he feels his business is being supported, he said: ‘The way I look at it, and this is the previous government and this government, I don’t think they value the great British pub for what it does within the community.’
‘They’re just going to continue to put the pressure on and extra nails in the coffin.’
Mr Delaney also says that ‘we need to lower the duty’, adding: ‘We’ve been shouting that I think they did it in France. With the VAT. They lowered the VAT for hospitality, and it’s thriving. What can’t they see, if we thrive, we take on more staff, they get more tax, more national insurance.
‘I think what they’re very good at doing is, and this is every government, they do things that will make them popular and putting the national minimum wage will make them very, very popular, because people won’t see through it.
‘What they won’t see through is the small businesses where, you know, I’m only a very small business, and I think the national minimum wage cost me 600 pounds extra a week.
‘You can’t pass that on, because before we know we’re already on £6.20 a pint now, and it was only a few years ago we were on £3, and that’s what you know people say to me.’
Mr Delaney fears that he will have to increase everyone else’s wage with a rise in the National Living Wage.
‘Before you know it, you’re going to have pot collectors that are nearly earning as much as your supervisors, your managers and your chefs, so it really is worrying,’ he said.
‘And you’ve got the property developers who are like vultures flying around, waiting for the pubs to close, to turn them into a Tesco to turn them into flats. And that’s horrible.’
MILLIONAIRE: ‘I’ve left the UK because of the Budget’
- Name: Bassim Haidar
- Age: 53
- Lives : Dubai
- Job: Property mogul
Millionaire Bassim Haidar left the UK with his family last month due to concerns over the budget and is looking to sell the £80million property portfolio he built up in the capital.
The 53-year-old, who moved to London in 2020, was a non-domiciled resident and decided to leave Britain to avoid paying millions of pounds in tax on his overseas income.
He has relocated to Dubai with his wife and three children, aged 14, seven and one, due to the ‘uncertainty’ following former chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s announcement that the non-dom tax regime would be scrapped from April 2025.
Mr Haidar, who was born in Nigeria but has Lebanese citizenship, believes high-net-worth individuals like himself are being taken for granted and it is the UK that will be worse off when millionaires decide to leave.
‘My biggest concern was tax on global assets and inheritance tax on global assets,’ he said.
‘In July, when we started to hear about the taxes and the uncertainty I decided to leave because no one likes uncertainty. The one thing I can control is my movement.
‘Non-dom was a thing for over 200 years and that was taken away instantly. There is an underestimation on how flexible non-doms are and we can easily move.
‘They have always been protected and the main reason we were invited. To then take that away, you’re telling us we have to leave and we got the message loud and clear.’
He said he was not prepared to wait for the budget to be announced and needed to take action now.
Mr Haidar owned more than 10 homes in central London, including a £20million five-bedroom flat in Chelsea, but he is now selling his UK assets.
‘Look at the treasury tax collections from high net worth people. It is going to backfire on Labour,’ he said.
‘I am in Dubai and can see the influx of Brits relocating here. Unfortunately the UK is going to lose out.
‘I invested well over £80million and now I am selling all of my properties. It is never going to repeat itself again.
‘Most non-doms I know have left or are in the process of leaving. They have relocated to Dubai, Monaco and Geneva.’
He added: ‘There are smarter ways to get more taxes. Don’t get me wrong I am happy to pay more taxes but when you are trying to invite non-doms to build businesses and who have paid in, taxing them on income abroad is highly unfair.’
Mr Haidar, owner of multi-sector conglomerate BH Holdings which generates revenues of £1.2billion, insisted the UK should follow the example of Italy.
The European country has a flat tax on worldwide income of £200,000 for high-net-worth individuals who transfer their tax residency there.
‘If the government wants to raise more taxes, charging non-doms £200,000 would raise double what they are expecting,’ he claimed.
He said it ‘makes a lot of sense’ for his family to leave the UK in order to protect their future wealth.
FAMILY AND BUSINESS OWNER: ‘I can’t grow my business anymore’
- Name: Alisa Zotimova
- Age: 44
- Lives: London
- Job: Real Estate
Alisa Zotimova, 44, has had to shelve plans to grow her business which involved hiring new staff members because of the increase in employers’ National Insurance Contributions.
The mother-of-two, who started AZ Real Estate in Marylebone 12 years ago, says the rise in costs is ‘frustrating’ and described it as a ‘tumultuous’ time for business.
‘Increased National Insurance payments for my business is not going to break the bank but it means there is less money to go around,’ she said.
‘If it increases with pension contributions then I won’t be able to top up what is more than necessary as an employer.
‘I was planning to grow the business and up the revenue by hiring more people but I don’t think I can do this anymore.’
She added: ‘Hopefully it won’t be a dealbreaker but I will have to weigh everything and try to see where else I can cut costs and adjust accordingly.
‘It means we will have to do less marketing and the budget will take a hit.’
Mrs Zotimova, who draws a small salary and reinvests in her business, admitted it is fair that those who can afford it should pay more into the system but that the money needs to go to the right places.
Her family has also been hit hard by the decision to introduce VAT on private school fees which has seen costs for her five-year-old son Leo’s education increase.
‘We’re not taking him out of this school now but it does change things up and we have to try and make more money to cope,’ she said.
‘I think this is a socially divisive and superficial action and the funds raised will not fix the problem with state education nor should they.’
Mrs Zotimova wrote to her MP in West Hampstead, Tulip Siddiq, and hit out at the Labour policy.
‘The public system won’t cope and it overall feels like some populist vengeance against who? The rich? They won’t feel it.. But we will,’ she said.
‘Small business owners like me, parents who are working super hard to pay these fees and for whom the addition of a fifth of the fees on top may just tip the whole setup into oblivion.’
She goes on holiday with her family at least three times a year and says a rise in Air Passenger Duty could mean they travel less and save up for longer.
‘We love to travel so we always try to go away with our kids during half term but I shouldn’t be prosecuted for it,’ she said.
‘We’re not going on private jets or anything but we enjoy it and it’s nice and our son gets to see different parts of the world.
‘Air passenger duty will probably not scupper our plans but we may go on holiday less and probably have to save up ahead of time.
‘But what is the logic behind it? Is it going back to help the environment? Will the flights be on time? It sounds like they are filling up the coffers by any means.’
PENSIONER: ‘This Budget makes me feel sick’
- Name: Elaine
- Age: 70s
- Job: Retired
Widower Elaine is in her 70s and spent 20 years caring for her late husband before he passed away.
She was furious at the winter fuel payment cut and now spends 25 per cent of her income on energy bills.
Elaine, who is dreading the colder months said: ‘This Budget makes me feel sick. I think they’ve been disrespectful to all the pensioners that have paid into the country.
‘They’ve just thrown us in the scrap. It’s absolutely despicable what they’ve done. They’re not helping any anybody.
‘I didn’t vote Labour. Rishi told everybody that if they voted Labour they’d get hit with the taxes, but nobody believed them.
‘He’s not helping the ordinary family man. He’s not helping the pensioners. Where’s it all going to end? Are they going to tax pensions?
‘The sooner they’re out the better, quite frankly, and I know we’ve got probably 5 years, but you know the country will be fed up by then, I’m sure.
Elaine said taking the winter fuel ‘is going to cripple me’, adding: ‘I struggle as it is… being frightened to put the heating on when you’re in your seventies is despicable.’
BUSINESS OWNER: ‘Our industry is being decimated’
- Name: Becky Lumsden
- Age: 49
- Lives: Edinburgh
- Job: Spa owner
Becky Lumsden, 49, owns 23 beauty spas across the country and will incur extra costs of £300,000 following the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage.
The mother-of-two, from Edinburgh, who employs around 200 people at Pure Spa, which she started in 2002, says cannot afford this and will have to look at redundancies.
Reacting to the Budget, she said: ‘It’s a complete disaster for our business. It’s going to cost our business about £300,000 to implement changes that the Chancellor announced in her Budget.
‘She talked about invest, invest, invest, but I don’t know how you can invest when you are faced with a cost of £300,000 overnight to try and find.’
She added: ‘It’s an absolute disaster, our industry is being decimated by every policy they seem to come up with.
‘We’re limited in what we can do when it comes to passing on any tax increase. Almost half of our revenue goes to the government, it’s astronomical.
‘I feel like going to the government and saying ‘here’s my company run it for me’. It’s very disheartening.
‘We work the hardest in our business and we’re the lowest paid people on our payroll but we’re not classed as workers, apparently.’
Mrs Lumsden says around 60 per cent of her costs are staff so a rise in the National Insurance rate for employers is ‘disastrous’.
‘This is a tax on jobs and it is the worst thing we ever expected them to come up with,’ she said.
‘I don’t feel like they’re fairly sharing the burden. I think it’s disproportionate, the burden will be felt hardest on small and medium businesses.’
She added that she will have to look at ways to operate with less staff and will have less funds to invest in her businesses which will make it more vulnerable.
SINGLE MOTHER: ‘We are forced to use food banks’
- Name: Ragean Furness
- Age: 36
- Lives : Cheshire
- Job: Full-time carer
Raegan Furness, 36, is a full-time carer to daughters Amelia-Star, 12, who has ADHD, and Kacie-Rae, eight, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.
The single mother, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, claims universal credit as well as disability living allowance (DLA) for both children.
But she said the whole family have had to rely on food banks, as the payments don’t cover their food, travel, and bills.
FAMILY: ‘Our necks are on the chopping block’
- Name: Sarah Dawood
- Age: 46
- Lives : Essex
- Job: Landlord & small business owner
As a mother, a landlord and a small business owner whose partner works for the emergency services, Sarah Dawood told MailOnline of the budget: ‘Our necks are on the chopping block.’
Ms Dawood, who has a four-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter, has taken umbrage with Sir Keir Starmer suggesting landlords are not ‘working people’.
‘I do really take issue with that, because I don’t work your traditional 9 to 5. It’s probably more 5 to 9 in terms around being a mum and everything else.’
Born to a family of immigrants, Ms Dawood, 46, grew up in an East London council flat and went to a local comprehensive school.
‘I genuinely had nothing,’ she said. ‘And my parents were both working people, and we didn’t have a lot.
‘I left home, and I got a job as a junior in an estate agent, and I just worked, and I was very fortunate in that.
‘I saved very hard to to buy a property. In actual fact, my first property I bought because at the time, it was cheaper to pay a mortgage and to rent. And then I went on from there and started to invest in property.’
But after amassing a portfolio of property, Ms Dawood, who moved out of London to Essex in 2020, feared a rise in inheritance tax would tarnish the legacy she leaves for her children.
‘You want to leave your family a legacy and all the things that you work hard for, you can pass on to your loved ones. To see that a lot of that might be swallowed up in tax is soul destroying at times.’
Reacting to the Budget, she said: ‘I am very pleased and relieved that inheritance tax threshold hasn’t decreased, which means should I pass away, because of the value of my estate, my children aren’t going to be any worse off.’
But she said she was ‘quite disappointed’ by the rise in stamp duty, adding: ‘I’m really surprised. That has increased on additional properties from 3 per cent to five per cent. It’s effectively a 66 per cent increase on the amount of stamp duty paid for second property purchases.’
Ms Dawood, who also owns a small utilities company, was also fearing the worst from hikes employers’ national insurance.
She added: ‘I am about to start a new business and I will need staff. And the rise in the national living wage is obviously going to factor in as a new business and employer on my ability to be able to take on staff.
‘I appreciate, living costs are high, so they do need to come up. But from a business and the employers’ national Insurance, it will make it very difficult for me to take on a staff member in the early days.’
ENTREPRENEUR: ‘Everybody is going to be affected’
- Name: Carol Evans
- Age: 56
- Lives: Worcestershire
- Job: Consultancy owner
Carol Evans, a 56-year-old entrepreneur who has owned multiple businesses over the last 20 years, said her greatest concern is the change in the employers’ National Insurance.
‘I’ve got one client who it will add about £18,000 to to their cost, just lowering the NI thresholds, so that could have quite a big effect.
‘I think overall I can’t see there’s anything in the Budget that’s actually good news.’
Ms Evans, who runs a consultancy firm, added: ‘The Government is talking about this £22billion hole that they found that suddenly become £40billion and they seem to be trying to do everything all at once to try and recover that.
‘But to me what’s going to happen is that all of these extra costs are just going to put more and more pressure on businesses, all kinds of businesses, not just small businesses, but businesses at all stage.
‘At the end of the day that’s going to filter down to every single person in the country.’
She highlighted that if the cost of employing people goes up, businesses will be less likely to give pay rises and employ extra staff.
Ms Evans also warned that this is a time when people ‘need to look at what they are wasting in terms of spending money’.
She added: ‘I think the government wastes one hell of a lot of money, you know, but so do businesses too.
‘I do think it’s that whilst this this is all about the Autumn statement, and how it’s going to affect people, I think generally what I’ll be saying is that we can’t wait for these things to be in our favour. We have to do what we can ourselves.
‘It’s looking where are all the leaks? And I say to the government, ‘Look at your own leaks, too!’
‘When you’re spending money that you don’t need to be spending, or things aren’t as efficient or effective as they should be. And I worry that the slightest increase in costs will put some businesses out of business.
‘Some people will end up losing jobs or not be able to get jobs and that’s not what we want. That’s not helpful.’
PENSIONER FORCED BACK TO WORK: ‘We have cold showers to save money’
- Name: Pritpal Kaur
- Age: 73
- Lives : London
- Job: Shop assistant
Pensioner Pritpal Kaur has been forced to go back to work as a Harrods shop assistant so that she can afford heating after her winter fuel allowance was cut in September.
The 73-year-old, from west London, suffers from blood cancer and relies on the heating, an electric blanket and hot water bottles to help ease her symptoms.
But her Winter Fuel Payment was cut because she and her husband receive £20 more than the £332.95 a week income threshold for Pension Credit and are not eligible for other means-tested benefits.
‘It’s been very hard without the winter fuel allowance because I have blood cancer and need the heating all the time,’ she said.
‘I’m forced to cut back on food shopping and buy the cheapest items. I go for quick showers and my husband has started having cold showers now to save money.
‘I have worked all my life and I am still working part time to make ends meet. I think it’s really sad what the government has done.
‘There are people like me who have cancer, are cold and need the money. Keir Starmer taking the fuel allowance is not fair at all.’
Mrs Kaur, who spent 48 years working before retiring, now works two days a week as a shop assistant in Harrods in order to afford her heating bill.
She is pleading with the government to make changes and help pensioners like her who are living under the poverty line.
‘The government should give money back to pensioners in some way to make up for this loss,’ she said.
‘I have worked all my life and contributed taxes but I still have a cold house.’
Her daughter Minreet Kaur, 43, cares for her full-time and is furious at Labour for cutting her winter fuel allowance.
‘My mum is not wealthy, she is working class and can’t afford her winter fuel,’ she said. ‘She’s immunocompromised and they’re doing this to her.
‘My dad is retired and wants to also get a job to help ends meet but he shouldn’t have to work at that age.
‘I think it’s so unfair and so wrong. For the government to hit the elderly like that it feels as if they have no respect for them. It’s like they’re trying to finish them off.’
She added: ‘In this country you work, work, work and you get nothing. My mum is 73. It’s been such a rough year, it’s her time to relax but she is still suffering and I feel really angry.
‘I don’t understand how someone like that has a job as prime minister.’
PENSIONER: ‘I am appalled by the winter fuel payment cut’
- Name: Tom Harrison
- Age: 88
- Lives: Berkshire
- Job: Retired
Tom Harrison fears the Budget will leave him poorer as a pensioner and pointed to Labour’s treatment of the elderly as cause for concern.
The 88-year-old, from Spencers Wood in Berkshire, receives around £25,000 a year from a mixture of state pension, an annuity and income from his savings accounts.
He had his winter fuel payment cut and said although he doesn’t have a lot of money, it isn’t going to affect him.
‘I am appalled they took it away and at the same time they announced a pay increase for train drivers,’ Mr Harrison said.
‘It is just less money- it will affect those pensioners who are just above the threshold but not by a great deal.
‘When the Labour government gave their blurb before the election it sounded like they would be sensible and now I am worried they won’t be.
‘It shows with the way they have treated pensioners. I have been talking to a friend who has to decide whether to have her windows insulated or to pay off the mortgage.’
He still works nine hours a week at a Cotswold Outdoor store where he fits customers with walking and running shoes and says the money is ‘handy’.
His civil partner Colin Cottell, 64, claims the Labour party is being ‘disingenuous’ with its policies.
‘Labour promised change but they have just brought in changes that weren’t in their manifesto,’ he said.
‘I don’t think it will be worth the hassle and politically and they have caused huge damage to themselves. It will probably backfire.’
LAWYER: ‘Raising capital gains tax makes me angry’
- Name: Rebecca Seeley Harris
- Age: 58
- Lives: Devon
- Job: Lawyer
Rebecca Seeley Harris, 58, said she was ‘relieved’, adding: ‘A lot of the measures I thought were going to be brought in haven’t been.’
She was concerned about changes to capital gains tax rates and inheritance tax as she will soon need to sell her parents’ home and investments to pay for their dementia care.
The lawyer, from Devon, spends close to £2,500 a week on looking after her elderly parents and says she will soon have to look at selling their assets to keep up with the payments.
Ahead of the Budget, Miss Harris was also looking to take out 25 per cent of her pension as a lump sum to pay off her mortgage but has held off because of rumoured changes to the system.
‘The main problem for me was the fear, all these leaks were very worrying because you are not sure what is going to happen,’ she said.
‘I actually work in tax but I am still not an expert. I got really panicky and thought tomorrow I’ll take it out but it’s not as simple as taking my 25 per cent now.
‘If I take it out now I am gambling on my future but if I keep it it will be bigger.’
She added: ‘Everything is going to hit me. CGT, changes to pensions and I am not wealthy. I feel all these measures directed at me.
‘If all these raises mean we get a better NHS and the budget potholes get filled then I won’t mind.
‘But I worry all of these tax raises will go nowhere and nothing will get fixed.’
LANDLORD: ‘This Budget is a right dog’s breakfast’
- Name: Kundan Bhaduri
- Age: 42
- Lives: Kent
- Job: Landlord
Kundan Bhaduri has blasted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for suggesting landlords are ‘not working people’.
The 42-year-old landlord, from Kent, said of the Budget: ‘The government’s approach to landlords is fast resembling a Monty Python sketch: endless hoops, rising taxes, and a litany of regulations make you wonder if they’re hoping to drive every last one of us to ‘find something more respectable’ to do, leaving aside being a ‘landlord’ which has already been cursed to being the job for the devil.
‘After hiking up interest rates and slapping on tax grabs, they have the cheek to wonder why rents are up and housing options down.
‘It’s hard to offer affordable rentals when policies squeeze us dry—landlords aren’t public services, after all. It’s high time for policies that incentivise, rather than hobble, those creating homes.
‘This increase in stamp duty is another kick in the teeth for small landlords up and down the country.’
Mr Bhaduri, a portfolio landlord and property developer, described the Budget as a ‘right dog’s breakfast’.
He added: ‘This Prime Minister, in what he describes as his ‘mind’s eye’ has already dismissed us as ‘not being working people.’ This is as baffling as it is insulting.
‘Landlords invest, employ contractors, and maintain properties, many juggling portfolios and day jobs alike. With property now yielding less profit, don’t be surprised if investment dries up, and tenants find options thin on the ground.’
‘To keep the market buoyant, the government must pivot—rethink these tax hikes and invest in sustainable support for the rental sector. Otherwise, in two years, we may find the UK’s rental market unrecognisable, with housing scarcity at an all-time high.’
Mr Bhaduri fears that capital gains tax will be ‘swallowed by the taxman’ rather than using the profits to ‘reinvest in housing’.
He added: ‘This government seems to think landlords are all Monopoly men, strolling around the board picking up properties on whimsy. In reality, many of us are small business owners, people who’ve worked our socks off, taking on risk and sleepless nights to secure our financial futures—and theirs, mind you.
‘Instead of ‘fairness,’ we get the sharp end of the stick. Imagine it: they get their tax grab, but what about the tenants we house? Fewer landlords mean fewer rental properties, which means rent hikes across the board.
‘If the government really wants to ‘level up,’ it could start by recognising who actually props up this economy.’
SWEET MANUFACTURER: ‘Here we go again’
- Name: Steven West
- Lives: North Wales
- Job: Business owner
Steven West, a sweet manufacturer from North Wales, has been left shocked by a hike in employer National Insurance, following a tumultuous few years.
Mr West, the managing director at The Pudding Compartment, said: ‘Small businesses like ours are a resilient lot. We have to be in order to survive, especially in the food sector.
‘We’ve had pandemics, and energy crisis, supply chain failures and shortages, food Inflation, the cost of living crisis and wage inflation… the list goes on. Just when we think we have turned the corner back towards stability and maybe even a bit of profit, bang, here we go again.’
Speaking about the increase in employer national insurance, he said: ‘We employ 26 people so this means we need to find a way to reduce our payroll by about 30 hours a week just to stand still, and this is without any other measures yet to be announced.
‘Our customers can’t tolerate yet another price increase so it looks like we are on our own with this one. Any increase in NI is clearly taxing existing and new jobs so our plans to grow the business and create jobs will need to be reviewed.’
SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: ‘This government doesn’t understand entrepreneurship’
- Name: David McKenzie
- Age: 34
- Lives: Derbyshire
- Job: Sports broadcasting
The son of a former Labour MP is concerned about how rising CGT will impact his media company and says the government ‘doesn’t understand entrepreneurship’.
David McKenzie, 34, who lives in Derbyshire, started sports broadcasting company Pysched4 in February 2023 and is concerned policies in the Budget will discourage financiers abroad from investing in the UK.
‘The reality is it is the worst time to start a business,’ he said. ‘The biggest challenge has been the investment market. Investor confidence as a market has probably not been what it was 5-10 years ago.
‘Changes to CGT are concerning because you start to look at the impact and how attractive the UK could be to investors.
‘It is being pitched in an unfavourable way. Other areas in the EU like Ireland and Germany are more favourable.
‘Things like that really discourage people who are taking risks to start their own business.’
He has not taken a wage since he decided to leave the tech industry and start his own company.
Mr McKenzie, son of Iain McKenzie, the former Labour MP for Inverclyde, claimed entrepreneurs are already taking their businesses to places like Portugal.
‘The proposed CGT increase would make the UK less attractive for early venture business,’ he added.
‘They would look towards more tax friendly countries. It is an inherently risky policy in an already very difficult market and that would make it substantially harder.’
PENSIONER: ‘Rising capital gains tax would halve my income’
- Name: John Taylor
- Age: 72
- Lives: London
- Job: Retired
Pensioner John Taylor is worried about losing up to half his monthly income due to a rise in capital gains tax.
The 72-year-old from London relies on shares and investments and says a reduction in his income will have a negative impact on his standard of living.
‘I have money in other investments but I didn’t transfer them into my ISAs because the tax was not that high,’ he said.
‘A rise in CGT would reduce my income by half and I’d have to spend less and cut out on certain things.
‘I have been putting money into ISAs in order to avoid capital gains tax and have been thinking about taking all my money out of investments and putting it into them.’
Mr Taylor, who was a lawyer and consultant before his retirement, said he was shocked to hear about these proposed changes which would affect him.
‘All this uncertainty is frustrating because they promised before the election they weren’t going to raise taxes on individuals,’ he added.
‘I wasn’t too alarmed to start with but I heard more and more proposals leaked and it has become concerning.’
BAR OWNER: ‘Rising National Insurance will kill off businesses’
- Name: Lawrence Barton
- Age: 50
- Lives: Birmingham
- Job: Bar owner
Lawrence Barton owns three bars in the centre of Birmingham and the rise in employers’ National Insurance Contributions and the minimum wage will cost his business £106,000 a year.
The 50-year-old says he has no choice but to increase prices and that these policies in the budget will spell the end of many businesses.
He is an additional rate taxpayer, earning more than £125,000 a year, and insists this has been the ‘toughest’ year in business since he began almost three decades ago.
‘It’s becoming depressing really,’ he said. ‘I am watching local, regional and national businesses fail on a scale I have never seen. People are feeling quite desperate.’
Mr Barton, who owns The Village Inn, The Loft and The Nightingale in Birmingham, employs around 100 people and the rise in NIC will cost his businesses £36,000 a year, at a time when they were already trading at a loss.
‘It is going to make life worse as it is. There will be business closures. what we need is relief,’ he added.
‘This type of extra cost will have a detrimental impact on many businesses. It is not a smart strategy to fix something which will lead to more funding holes.
‘By penalising businesses you are suffocating the very businesses which would be far more beneficial in the medium term.’
CARER ON MINIMUM WAGE: ‘I just about keep my head above the water’
- Name: Julie
- Age: 60
- Job: Carer
Julie’s life fell into a downward spiral following the breakdown of her marriage. She had two young children to raise, no maintenance payments from the children’s father, and little family support as her mother had died and her father was ill.
She struggled to be able to work and ended up relying on payday loans to keep her and her family afloat.
‘I struggle on a day to daily daily basis,’ she said. ‘I’m on the living wage, and I just about keep my head above the water.’
When Julie, 60, eventually returned to work, she was thousands of pounds in debt. She tried to keep costs down while repaying loans such as using foodbanks and downsizing from her family home of 25 years.
She eventually reached out to Christians Against Poverty who helped her file for bankruptcy to write off her £28,000 debt.
But she is still struggling day to day financially, earning just over £1,000-a-month for a 30-hour minimum wage contract at a care home.
‘I would welcome a rise in minimum wage with open arms’, she said. I’m a carer. I am in a residential home, and I just think that for what I do every day on a daily basis, the pay isn’t good.
‘At the end of the month my pay is gone on bills mostly. I obviously need to keep myself alive and keep myself afloat.
‘My rent straight away is £500. That’s gone before I blink and then obviously we have got gas, electric water, food, phone which we all have to have.’
When asked if the government is supporting people like herself enough, she said: ‘Not really, no, because I’m a single parent.
‘I only have 25 per cent discount in council tax, where I think I should be having 50 per cent because I am one of two people.
‘My friends they’re paying 50 per cent each. I have to pay 75 per cent because I’m single.’
FAMILY: ‘We’re not a happy household’
- Name: Naomi Keegan
- Age: 41
- Lives: Devon
- Job: Solicitor
Naomi Keegan, 41, has two children in private school and the decision to introduce VAT on fees has turned her world upside down.
The mother from Devon and her army officer husband Stuart spend £30,000 a year on education for their 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son.
But they have to supplement the 20 per cent rise in fees through their savings and forecast they will run out of money during her 12-year-old daughter’s GCSE’s in two years.
‘I have been a bit of an emotional wreck since it was announced,’ she said. ‘There’s a real misunderstanding of the private sector and those that use it.
‘We as a family are not the type of family people have in mind.
‘It’s really destabilising for us as a family. We have spent thousands of pounds and went without for a number of years and we potentially won’t get the education for them.’
Mrs Keegan and her husband decided to send their children to private school because their son was struggling with dyslexia and their daughter lost her confidence after the pandemic.
‘One parents’ evening we felt one of the teachers didn’t know which child she was talking about. It was quite worrying,’ she said
She has been struggling mentally since Labour announced it would impose VAT on private school fees from January 1.
‘I feel under immense pressure to fix this problem for my kids unless something changes,’ she added.
‘It’s horrible and it has badly affected me and my mental health has suffered significantly at a time where I have to be performing well to earn more and pay for this.
‘We’re not a happy household at the moment.’
SEMI-RETIRED: ‘This Budget frightens me’
- Name: Charlie Boliston
- Age: 64
- Lives: London
- Job: Consultant
Charlie Boliston, 64, is looking at retiring soon but is concerned the government’s budget will leave him poorer and he won’t have saved enough money.
The consultant from Wandworth, London, who describes himself as ‘semi-retired’, has around £450,000 saved up in a pension and ISAs but is worried this won’t stretch far enough.
‘This budget is frightening and so will the ones to come,’ he said. ‘I am concerned because you think you have enough for retirement but it looks like everything is going up.
‘We have all worked hard all our lives and tried to save our money but now it’s not within the definition of working people allegedly.’
‘I am not a multi-millionaire but I do think you need a reasonable amount to retire.’
He believes pensioners will be worse off under this Labour government and has been left ‘annoyed’ by Sir Keir Starmer’s definition of working people.
Mr Boliston said: ‘This affects everybody but if you’re not working and supplementing your income, then it is going to go down.
‘It does seem that we’re going to have a few per cent taken away and a couple of other things.
‘The way this government is behaving in two or three years, if you have investments then they might say you don’t need your pension either.
‘I think the mask has slipped already. We’re dealing with serious class war issues and I’ve seen it before.’
He added: ‘Whatever happens we’re going to be poorer there’s no doubt about that.
‘These guys are coming for our money, this is going to be the first of five. I think it is only going to get worse.
‘In half a year’s time there’ll be another emergency budget and more will happen.’
TEACHER AND MOTHER: ‘We are grateful for the pay rise’
- Name: Henna Karim-Sayer
- Age: 27
- Lives: East Midlands
- Job: Teacher
Henna Karim-Sayer has benefitted from Labour policies as a teacher with a 5.5 per cent pay increase agreed with educators soon after the election in July.
The 27-year-old from the East Midlands, who teaches RE and PSHE at secondary school, believes it is a positive step in helping improve education.
‘I think it was a really positive start and hopeful because teaching at the minute is a very difficult profession,’ she said.
‘It got us off to a hopeful start and shows the government is going to be supportive of education.
‘Experienced teachers have felt undervalued so I think it’s good in terms of retention because that is one of the huge issues in teaching. Staff were leaving left, right and centre.’
Mrs Sayer, who shares videos on TikTok under the username mrsreandpsheteacher, is in her seventh year as a teacher and earns around £46,000.
She is pleased to hear her pension won’t be impacted by changes which are affecting private sector workers but is concerned about what this will mean for others.
‘It is reassuring, one of the good things about teaching is the prospect of a good pension,’ she said.
‘I’m sure people would like to see money be reinvested into the education system because you want to see kids and grandkids succeed.
‘But it is worrying outside of teaching because it could mean there won’t be as many jobs. That is a concern for people.’
She is also worried about the number of private school students who are forced into state school because their parents can’t afford to pay VAT on the fees.
‘We’re at capacity so we are oversubscribed already which means bigger class sizes and you can’t meet the needs which is a big concern for teachers,’ she said.
‘How do you teach a class when you have 32 children? it’s impossible sometimes.
‘There’s a stereotypical idea that private schools are for the elite and very rich kids go to private schools but there are some families who will sacrifice everything for their kids to go.
‘It’s making the gap even bigger between the haves and have nots and personally I am not a huge fan.’
SICKNESS BENEFITS: ‘The rhetoric around disabled people is damaging’
- Name: Nicki Myers
- Age: 51
- Lives: Cambridge
- Job: In care
Nicki Myers, 51, who lives with pulmonary fibrosis and genetic disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects connective tissues, is extremely worried about proposed cuts to sickness benefits.
The grandmother, from Cambridge, is a bed-bound palliative care patient and receives £1,500 a month through Employment and Support Allowance and Personal Independent Payment.
‘I am still worried my benefits will be cut and stress makes people sicker,’ she said.
‘I really hope this won’t affect me because my condition has become so bad. I would literally have nothing if they were cut. I couldn’t continue.
‘Some of the briefings that are coming out, that they need to toughen up the system has me in disbelief.
‘There are so many hoops to jump through where you have to provide medical proof and you feel guilty having to ask.’
Even with her current benefits, Ms Myers has found herself in debt with her energy and water suppliers.
She added: ‘I think the rhetoric around disabled people is damaging and the government needs to talk to disabled people because they’re getting it wrong.
‘It is getting worse and worse. Now our bank accounts are being surveilled. It is not a surprise disabled people are taking their lives.
‘Life has become unbearable for many people. It is incredibly sad.’
LUXURY PILLOW BUSINESS OWNER: ‘I’m leaving Britain for South Africa’
- Name: Karli Buchling
- Age: 37
- Lives: South Africa
- Job: Business owner
Karli Buchling, 37, immediately started the process of moving her luxury pregnancy pillow business to South Africa once she saw Labour win the election in July.
The mother-of-two, who lives in the Cotswolds, claims it won’t be viable to run a business under this government because of the proposed tax hikes.
She says she will generate as much as 40 per cent more profit in South Africa compared to Britain with Natal Comfort and expects to complete the move by mid-November.
‘I was concerned about incoming tax payments from the Labour government. There are bound to be changes and I don’t have wiggle room,’ she said.
‘It is becoming too expensive and with having to possibly pay additional tax, it just doesn’t make sense anymore.
‘Managing a business in the UK is not an option at all because of the costs.’
Mrs Buchling, who earns more than £125,000 a year, started the business in 2017 and says she pays a ‘huge amount of money in taxes already’.
She claims she could save up to £10,000 a month by moving Natal Comfort to South Africa.
‘That is a significant amount of money,’ she said. ‘It’s just a shame because I really wanted to get to a point where I could build the business up here but it’s financially not possible.
‘But it is becoming unaffordable being a self-employed entrepreneur. With this CGT increase, there is no point in us being here with our diverse investment portfolio.
‘Everyone is leaving and it’s a shame. It will impact. I think businesses will either close or people will leave the country to be able to pursue their ventures.’
FLORIST: ‘We are seriously worried’
- Name: Linda Taylor and Scott Davison
- Age: 56 and 55
- Lives: London
- Job: Florists
The owners of a luxury flower shop in Mayfair, London, are having sleepless nights over the future of their business following the budget.
Linda Taylor, 56, and Scott Davison, 55, are extremely concerned about how the rise in employers’ National Insurance Contributions and minimum wage will affect Goode Flowers at a time when the industry is already struggling.
The pair, who have more than 40 years of experience in floristry, decided to start their own business with Pal Griffiths, 55, in June 2020.
But they say trade has been very difficult and the government’s budget will spell more trouble.
‘All of this has been going downhill,’ Mr Davison said. ‘They now want to tax us even more in this budget and I don’t think there is much more room to skim off.
‘Everyday I think we are working for the government with these taxes. This is a luxury good, it is even harder for florists. It isn’t what people need, so we will have to take the hit.
‘We are seriously worried and we had a meeting with our accountant. It’s got that serious.
‘It is a worry and it leads to sleepless nights over our business and the government don’t live in the real world.
Mrs Taylor believes costs caused by an increase in employers’ National Insurance Contributions and minimum wage will lead to suppliers passing them on to Goode Flowers.
‘The costs for everybody will go up and the spending power will affect our costs,’ she said.
‘Our suppliers who employ people who have to fund extra National Insurance, they’ll stick the money on there but we can’t put our prices up.
‘The minimum wage rise will also add on extra costs and have a huge impact on our business. If we shut our doors, they will lose their tax money. It’s a vicious cycle.’
She added: ‘The taxman probably has a bigger income from this business than we do.
‘I don’t think the Chancellor has any real idea of the day to day running of the costs of a business and we have to give away our own wages. It gets harder and harder each month.’
Mr Davison said their high-end clients are leaving the country in their droves because of the tax hike.
‘Leading up to this budget, people have been terrified. The negativity has meant people have been spending less since Labour were elected,’ he said.
RESTAURANT OWNER: ‘The sins of a few are being paid by the blood sweat and tears of the many’
- Name: Sean Finnegan
- Age: 49
- Lives: Stockport
- Job: Restaurant owner
Sean Finnegan, 49, says the rise in employers’ National Insurance Contributions will cost his business an extra £1,500 a month.
He employs 10 people at the Fold Bistro in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and won’t be able to invest in the restaurant or recruit for more roles following the tax hike.
‘It’s a substantial monthly increase,’ he said. ‘It’s going to affect the sector overall as costs continue to spiral.
‘The sins of a few are being paid by the blood sweat and tears of the many.
‘It just shows the nature of the government here and they just won’t stand up to the real issues and expect the private sector to bear the biggest brunt.’
Mr Finnegan opened the fine-dining restaurant in January 2023 and executive chef Ryan Stafford who appeared on the final of the BBC’s Great British Menu last year believes the government is unfairly punishing small businesses.
‘For them to have minimum wage go up over the cost of inflation in back to back financial years, it is basically asking small businesses to pay the cost of government ineptitude,’ he said.
‘It shows a total fear of big business and being unable to stand up to them.’
He added: ‘The UK food scene has taken centre stage over the last 10 years and that work is going to be undone by a succession of ill-advised policies and they’re not listening to the hospitality sector.’
SELF-EMPLOYED SINGLE MOTHER: ‘Tax rises will drive my customers away’
- Name: Monika Zytowiecka
- Age: 38
- Lives: Southampton
- Job: Business owner
Self-employed independent business owner, Monika Zytowiecka, 38, launched her beauty business in February, offering permanent makeup, Botox and fillers.
She runs it from a studio in her home in Shirley, Southampton but says she had a very quiet month in September. She fears tax rises would mean less people would be able to afford ‘luxury’ services such as hers.
The single mother to Zoe, four, also hoped government-provided childcare would be improved.
FAMILY: ‘My children rely on me to take them to school every day’
- Name: Wahyudin Permanan Syam
- Age: 40
- Lives: Nottingham
- Job: Engineer
Wahyudin Permanan Syam was extremely concerned about an increase in fuel duty as he relies on his car for his job as an engineer and to take his daughter to school.
He will be relieved that the Chancellor confirmed that fuel duty will be frozen next year.
The 40-year-old from Nottingham, who earns £50,000 a year, currently tops up 160 litres of petrol each month.
He says any changes to fuel duty, which was frozen for more than a decade under the Conservatives, would have left a huge dent in his pocket.
‘I use my car every day at work and take my daughter to school so even a little bit of an increase will hugely impact my outgoings,’ he said.
‘It will be tough to manage and make my costs much higher.
‘My family relies on me to drive every day so increased fuel prices will just be an extra burden.’
Mr Syam who lives with his wife, a nursery nurse, and seven-year-old daughter suggested the government should increase fuel duty for those who use premium petrol because they can afford it.
‘I know the government needs to fill the budget gap but they should not sacrifice ordinary working people.
‘I think they should focus more on helping investment with business rather than just increase tax which is the easy thing to do.’
Mr Syam is worried about being dragged into a higher tax bracket with his next pay rise following the decision to freeze income tax thresholds as it will mean less money for his family.
‘I would have less money in my pocket and it is a shame after the government said we wouldn’t be affected,’ he said.
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