Chancellor John Healey has pledged that his first Budget will address reducing the cost of doing business and be aimed at “bloody-minded entrepreneurs”.
Speaking ahead of his debut Budget on Wednesday 28 October, Mr Healey said he was “conscious” of how companies are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and tax rises, including some introduced by his predecessor Rachel Reeves during Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
Backing profit-making businesses
“I want to be a chancellor who backs business in Britain making a profit, and those entrepreneurs who, in the end, are the ones who challenge the status quo, come up with innovative ideas and are trying, some of them through sheer bloody-mindedness, to keep going through these sorts of pressures,” the Cabinet chief told The Times.
Mr Healey also said firms had been under “a lot of pressure” in recent years, pointing to changes to employment law, regulation, higher taxes and global supply chains coming under pressure due to world events, a likely hint at the disruption caused by conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Tax rises and economic pressures
Ms Reeves, when she was chancellor, increased the employer National Insurance contributions rate from 13.8% to 15%, a move that came into effect last year. Major employers have complained about it adding millions of pounds onto their outgoings.
Mr Healey continued: “And so when I talk about the cost of business, and recognising that in the same way as we’re recognising the cost of living pressures, I’m conscious of that as I go into the budget for both businesses and households.”
North Sea gas approval and fiscal constraints
He was speaking on Wednesday after the Labour Government announced it had approved drilling for gas at the Jackdaw site in the North Sea, off the coast of Aberdeen in Scotland. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said it expects gas to be flowing out of the site and into the domestic supply chain within weeks.
Mr Healey faces economic pressures ahead of his Budget next week. UK government borrowing rose by more than expected to £24.5 billion for last month, underscoring the constraints in the public finances ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget. Mr Healey is expected to increase bank taxes as higher borrowing costs weigh down on fiscal headroom.
London business chiefs call for borrowing powers
It comes as London business chiefs urged the Chancellor to give the Mayor of London new powers to borrow against future revenue from transport and other schemes. They argued it could kick-start funding for developments such as the Bakerloo line extension and West London Orbital, creating more than 20,000 jobs and paving the way for 36,000 new homes.
