In a scathing opinion piece, Reform UK leader Richard Tice accuses Rachel Reeves of prioritizing criminal gangs over British corner shops through relentless tax hikes on tobacco and alcohol. He warns that incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham risks making the situation even worse if he continues these policies.
Taxes on Pleasure Backfire
Tice argues that since taking office, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have declared war on working people's simple pleasures—a pint after work, a flutter on the horses, or a cigarette on the doorstep. By taxing these out of reach, they have created a booming black market. According to Tice, one in four cigarettes smoked in Britain now comes from illicit sources. A pack costing over £15 in a supermarket can be bought under the counter for a fiver. Hard-pressed working people, already squeezed by energy bills, food, and rent, are turning to criminals as their only option.
Treasury Black Hole
The consequence is a yawning black hole in the Treasury. Duty-paid cigarette sales have collapsed by almost half in just three years, Tice claims. That lost revenue is not funding nurses or plugging the budget gap—it is going straight to criminal gangs. The government is now spending £30 million of taxpayers' money on a new High Street Organised Crime Unit to deal with the fallout. Tice calls this a policy catastrophe of Labour's own making, stating, 'The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.'
Burnham's Impending Mistake
Tice warns that Andy Burnham, if he blindly continues Reeves' planned October duty hike—including another 2% escalator and a one-off charge on every pack and pouch of rolling tobacco—will be choosing criminals over corner shops. 'He is feeding the black market that is strangling our high streets, and then expecting applause for announcing another crackdown,' Tice writes. He urges Burnham to scrap the tobacco taxes and instead pull the rug from under organised criminals blighting high streets across the country.
Alcohol and High Streets
The same applies to alcohol, Tice argues. Duty hikes, minimum pricing, and endless lectures have driven pubs to close, while high streets, hollowed out by years of Labour and Tory failure, become home to underground dealers. Labour does not trust people to decide whether to have a smoke, a drink, or a bet without the state pricing them out of it, Tice contends. 'They would rather you handed that money to a criminal gang than enjoyed yourself on their watch,' he adds.
A Call for Change
Tice concludes that working people deserve a government that treats them as adults, backs British businesses, and stops lining the pockets of criminals. If Burnham wants to regenerate forgotten towns, he must scrap Reeves' tobacco taxes and make the cost of a good time affordable for normal people again.
