While growth is down and Reeves prepares her painful budget, tech bosses in the UK have issued grave warning against the Chancellor raising capital gains tax, something feared to be announced. They’ve rallied against the “alarming” tax hike that would drive talent away from UK start-ups. Paul Taylor, founder of billion-pound firm Thought Machine told City A.M.:
“They’re literally talking about going from one of the best capital gains regimes to the worst. It would be the highest rate in Europe. I don’t think anybody would start a company here – why would you?”
Founder of fintech Curve added: “within a year or two, you’re going to see more companies failing”. Meanwhile, reports of the Treasury equalising capital gains in line with income tax are swirling around SW1, a move that would drive down growth and see a talent exodus. As the representative of over 250 fintech companies Innovate Finance warned, “not all capital gains are equal”…
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”