'Wake up and smell the coffee': MP issues Budget warning over high street tax hikes
Ahead of next week’s Budget, Conservative MP is warning that Labour’s tax increases are making it difficult for businesses to invest and take on staff, with nearly a million young people now not in education, employment or training.
Ahead of next week’s Budget, my message to the Chancellor is this: businesses need lower taxes, less red tape and the confidence to invest and take on staff. After speaking to businesses across South West Devon, I know just how urgently that change is needed.
As we mark British Beauty Week, I recently visited Ochre Hair Lounge in Yelverton, where I met Claire, her team and apprentice Jess. It was lovely to see a local business investing in young talent, but our conversation also highlighted just how difficult Labour’s tax increases have made it for businesses like hers to offer these opportunities.
It’s a message I’m hearing time and again from businesses across South West Devon. They want to grow and take on staff, but with Labour's increases to employers’ National Insurance, business rates and other rising costs, many simply cannot afford to. Earlier this year, I raised similar concerns in Parliament on behalf of Charmaine at Cox and Co Salon in Plymstock, and I know these pressures extend well beyond the beauty industry.
My first job was sweeping floors and bundling flowers at a florist for £10 a day. It might not sound like much, but it taught me the value of hard work and gave me my first experience of earning my own money. I want young people today to have those same opportunities, whether through an apprenticeship, a Saturday job or their first full-time role.
With nearly a million young people now not in education, employment or training, we should be doing everything possible to help businesses give them that first chance. Instead, Labour has piled additional costs onto employers, leaving many thinking twice before recruiting. We cannot afford to have an entire generation missing out because the Government has made taking on young people too expensive.
That’s why I welcome the Conservatives’ commitment to halve employers’ National Insurance for workers aged 21 to 24, alongside our plans to abolish business rates for thousands of high street businesses. These are practical measures that would help businesses keep more of what they earn and give them greater confidence to invest in their staff.
With the Budget just days away, Labour needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Businesses like Ochre are doing their bit to give young people a start in life, and it’s about time the Government did theirs. If the Chancellor continues to increase the cost of employing people, it won’t just be our high streets that suffer, but an entire generation whose opportunities are being put at risk.