Youâd almost feel sorry for her if she hadnât caused the mess in the first place. Some things can only be polished so much, some canât be polished at all. Which is the position the chancellor found herself in on Wednesday afternoon.
Standing at the despatch box, Rachel Reeves put on her best smile and tried to claim all was well. It was hard not to think of James Callaghanâs landing back in England during the winter of discontent only to deny the mounting problems, a denial paraphrased by The Sun as âCrisis? What crisis?â. Though for Reeves, the spring of disconnect may be more appropriate given her apparently tenuous grasp of basic economics and the harsh realities facing British taxpayers.
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With the growth forecast slashed in half to just one per cent this year, the fiscal headroom has evaporated, and next year will bring us the highest tax burden since records began.
And all the while the chancellor flashed her smile and ploughed on. The pledges to slim down government and reduce the size of the civil service, while welcome, will only be believed once they are seen. Planned benefit changes wonât touch the sides of the blackhole that is welfare spending. And the only suggestion from the Labour backbenches seemed to be for the imposition of a wealth tax. Matthew Bowles of the Institute of Economic Affairs made his debut on the TPA blog with an excellent takedown of that crazy idea.
There was no recognition of the damage her tax rises that havenât even come into effect yet are already doing. No contrition. No admitting that maybe attacking the productive private sector to fund the unproductive public sector might not be a very sustainable strategy. And nothing on the absurd employment rights bill.
Itâd be funny if it didnât mean such pain. From business owners to farmers to families to entrepreneurs, if youâre not part of this Labour governmentâs client state, theyâre coming for you and whatever youâre managing to make to support yourself and your family.Â
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Spring Statement: Is Reeves Reaping What She Sowed?
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In a special edition of A Nation of Taxpayers recorded within just a couple of hours of Reeves delivering her statement, podcast host Duncan Barkes was joined by the TPAâs Darwin Friend and Fred De Fossard of the Prosperity Institute.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, they tore into the chancellorâs announcements with Fred rightly blasting: âThe economic picture is, I think, really really weak⊠Youâd be amazed to realise the tax rises havenât even come in yet!âÂ
Listen to the full episode of A Nation of Taxpayers and get all the expert analysis on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
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Everything you need to know
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Speaking from the steps of TPA towers, Elliot Keck gave us his rundown of the situation and itâs not a pretty one. Debt up, taxes up, growth down, this is the path the chancellor has taken and weâre all paying the price.
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As Elliot rightly says: âLast yearâs autumn budget which raised taxes by ÂŁ40 billion has absolutely decimated business confidence and has led to growth forecasts being slashed in half⊠If Rachel Reeves wants to pull us out of the black hole that sheâs got the country stuck in, sheâs going to need to urgently change course on tax and spend.â Have a watch here.
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TPA analysis really put the scale of this governmentâs spending plans in perspective. Keir Starmer is set to spend a whopping ÂŁ6.43 trillion over the course of the parliament. This makes him the second biggest spender as a percentage of GDP since the second world war, behind only Boris Johnson whose own numbers are distorted by pandemic spending.
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Of the ten financial years with the highest spending since 1948, Starmer will have presided over four by the end of the parliament, compared to two for Johnson. When John OâConnell explained the findings to the press, he had a clear warning for ministers: âLabour must not allow some sensible decisions on quangos, government credit cards and welfare to convince them that theyâve done any more than the bare minimum in recent weeks.âÂ
Our findings were also the focus of an excellent article from Harry Phibbs for ConservativeHome which you can read here.
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Do they really deserve a pay rise?
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We now know where at least some of that money will be going. Yep, you guessed it⊠MP pay rises. We got confirmation this week that the basic salary for our elected representatives will soon hit ÂŁ93,904. With everything youâve just read above, youâre probably asking yourself the same question we were: âDo they really deserve it?â
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Shimeon Lee took to LBC to answer that one and it was a âno holds barredâ affair as he told listeners: âPay rises should depend on performance. If you look at their record, taxpayers will be really puzzled about what exactly in there justifies a pay rise for MPs⊠MP pay should be linked to GDP per capita.â
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No silencing the voice of taxpayers
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At the TPA, weâre incredibly proud of the job we do standing up for taxpayers. From our inception in 2004 right through to today, our mission has remained the same: Cut waste, reform taxes and public services. Over the last 20 years our research and campaigning has certainly ruffled a few feathers and some people (you can guess the type) really donât like us.
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So much so that weâre often the target of protests and even criminal damage. Which is what happened at the start of the week when the fibre optic cables providing telephone and internet services to our building were deliberately cut by a bunch of hard-left loonies. Naturally, this was never going to stop our team and Iâve written a short run down of just some of the things the TPA achieved on our unplanned work-from-home day which you can read here.Â
Thanks to people like you who support our research and campaigns, weâre able to hold the governmentâs feet to the fire every single day. We wonât be intimidated. Fighting for taxpayers is simply too important.
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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