AN ENTREPRENEUR has praised Chancellor Rachel Reeves' 'guts' in delivering her fist budget in today's Autumn Statement.

Katie McCann, founder and managing partner of specialist family law firm Lowry Legal, which has offices in Chester, Liverpool and Manchester said: “As a former economist for the Bank of England, finally do we have someone with some expertise and experience to back up her plans?

"After laying out the quite frankly shocking Tory inheritance and promising that she will publish a LINE BY LINE breakdown of how the Conservatives have created this £20 billion black hole we find ourselves in…I don’t think Sunak and his front bench could possibly have enough dead cats to throw at this to bluster their way out of it.

"Her bombshell revelation that the Tories did not give the OBR the full truth about the state of the country’s finances when they advised on Truss’s catastrophic mini budget is staggering!

"Once the substantial evidence to back this up is published, it is pretty hard to argue that as a country we all need to pull together to repair the wasteland we currently find ourselves in.

"So rather than wallow in the, what appear to be, unavoidable difficult decisions being made, maybe we should focus on the positives, and the part of the budget we can build on, for we’ve seen enough negativity, lies and deceit over the last 14 years.  

"Here goes:

 

  • Rachel Reeves is the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer…ever! 
  • £63.5 billion of investment from worldwide businesses being promised to the UK following a recent business summit, creating countless jobs.
  • A Covid Corruption Commissioner to track through those that took fraudulently during the pandemic.
  • Crackdown on benefit fraud
  • Modernised  HMRC software
  • An end of tax avoidance schemes
  • An increase to the National Living Wage; Carers Allowance and the Household Support Fund
  • Better employment rights and protections
  • An increase in pensions by 4.1% next year
  • A freeze on fuel duty
  • A kept promise on no increases to NI/VAT or income tax

"In a society where wealth is concentrated in the top 1%, she pulled no punches in laying out how she believes those with 'more' should contribute 'more'.

"She announced the demise of the Non Dom Scheme, VAT on school fees (where only 5% of children in the UK attend private school);  and rather cringingly for Mr Sunak an increase in fuel passenger duty on private jets.

"But….the business community has taken a hit.  Those that have buoyant businesses will be able to absorb the 1.2% rise in employers NI; but those in turbulent industries will find it difficult to balance the books.

"The more staff and the tighter the margin, the more difficult this will be. I think it inevitable that there will be businesses who can’t stomach this and will either lay staff off, reduce wages or halt recruitment plans. 

"This was a robust and strong budget that took some guts to deliver…lets hope it delivers for Britain."