Reeves' Jobs Tax starts to bite

It's official - Labour's Jobs Tax has been shown to be increasing unemployment, lowering wages and job vacancies and reducing economic growth.

Richard Fuller MP, Shadow Chief Secretary this week commented on the latest ONS figures 1 on employment saying:

The Chancellor has tried to camouflage her ineptitude by blaming the legacy of the last government and the impact of Donald Trump's tariffs, but everyone knows the truth. Even the Guardian Newspaper, which can hardly be accused of being pro-Tory, has pointed the finger of blame squarely at Rachel Reeves:

"𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 π’˜π’‰π’ 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’“π’Šπ’”π’† π’Šπ’ π’†π’Žπ’‘π’π’π’šπ’†π’“π’”β€™ π’π’‚π’•π’Šπ’π’π’‚π’ π’Šπ’π’”π’–π’“π’‚π’π’„π’† π’„π’π’π’•π’“π’Šπ’ƒπ’–π’•π’Šπ’π’π’” (𝑡𝑰π‘ͺ𝒔) π’˜π’π’–π’π’… 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’ƒπ’†π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 π’“π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 π’–π’π’†π’Žπ’‘π’π’π’šπ’Žπ’†π’π’• 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 π’„π’π’Šπ’Žπ’ƒπ’†π’… π’ƒπ’š 0.2 π’‘π’†π’“π’„π’†π’π’•π’‚π’ˆπ’† π’‘π’π’Šπ’π’•π’” 𝒕𝒐 4.5% π’ƒπ’†π’•π’˜π’†π’†π’ π‘±π’‚π’π’–π’‚π’“π’š 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉 – 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’‰π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’†π’”π’• 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 π’π’†π’‚π’“π’π’š 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 π’šπ’†π’‚π’“π’”.

π‘ͺ𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’π’–π’Žπ’ƒπ’†π’“ 𝒐𝒇 π’—π’‚π’„π’‚π’π’„π’Šπ’†π’” π’˜π’π’–π’π’… 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 π’„π’π’Žπ’† 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆. π‘¬π’Žπ’‘π’π’π’šπ’†π’“π’” 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’“π’†π’‡π’–π’”π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒐 π’•π’‚π’Œπ’† 𝒐𝒏 π’π’†π’˜ 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇, π’‘π’–π’”π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 π’—π’‚π’„π’‚π’π’„π’š 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 π’ƒπ’‚π’„π’Œ π’•π’π’˜π’‚π’“π’…π’” π’Šπ’•π’” 𝒑𝒓𝒆-π’‘π’‚π’π’…π’†π’Žπ’Šπ’„ 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍."2

Every economist understands that fewer people in work means lower tax revenues and probably an increase in benefit payments. It takes a staggering level of naivety on the Chancellor's part to believe that a Β£40 billion tax raid on businesses would have no impact on their behaviour but sadly that seems to be the mindset of this Labour government and their advisors. 

Their ideological policy-making has seen the same negative consequences, with millionaires leaving the country at a rate of one every 45 minutes, pensioners going cold and independent schools being forced to close due to the Education Tax. For a budget that was supposedly all about growth, the Chancellor has managed to achieve the exact opposite.

You can watch Richard's views on the latest figures at https://youtu.be/ynQ3DmzsGQM?si=Ap89_AoUOO7equaE

In December, Richard led the debate by the Official Opposition to Labour’s jobs tax when the Bill came before the House of Commons. He warned at the time that a large increase in employer National Insurance contributions would result in lower wages, fewer jobs and less economic growth. Read more at: https://www.richardfuller.co.uk/news/richard-leads-opposition-increase-employers-national-insurance-debate

 

  • 1

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/may2025

  • 2

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/13/uk-unemployment-rises-ons-job-vacancies

You may also be interested in