Reeves’ Budget has bombed spectacularly – delivering anything but growth and investment. Her tax-hiking spree has slammed the brakes on businesses, forcing closures, job cuts, and a mass exodus of investment. Guido thought he’d give Reeves some light Christmas reading to mull over during the holiday break. Here’s all the catastrophic backlash so far…
- Figures by the Office for National Statistics showed that job vacancies fell to a three-year low of 796,000 for November.
- S&P Global showed a third straight fall in employment – excluding the pandemic, the sharpest cut since 2009.
- The CBI calculated that the inheritance tax raid would cost £1.25 billion more than it raised.
- The National Institute of Economic and Social Research warned that the UK experienced no growth in Q4, with key sectors like services and production grinding to a halt due to budget measures weighing on private sector activity.
- Seasonal job postings in early November were 39% lower than last year and 46% lower than 2019, with overall postings still 14% below pre-pandemic levels.
- Water companies prepare to pass on NIC costs to billpayers, amounting to £400 million.
- An HSBC survey revealed that a quarter of small firms said they could “not survive” financial shocks of Budget measures.
- Hiring rates fell to their lowest levels since 2020, attributed to fallout from Reeves’ Budget measures.
- High street retailers reported their worst sales decline since Covid, with November sales tumbling 5.8% year-on-year, according to BDO.
- Online sales fell by 7.8%, while in-store sales dropped 5.5%.
- Part-time Christmas job vacancies plunged by a staggering 12.9% this year.
- Business confidence nosedived to its lowest level since April 2020, as the Institute of Directors’ latest optimism tracker fell to -65 in November, down from -52 in October.
- Airport operators warn Reeves her budget will cancel flight routes.
- EasyJet announced it would cut domestic flights, blaming Reeves’ air passenger duty hike for declining demand. Similarly, Ryanair revealed plans to cut flights by 10% from UK airports, citing Reeves’ “idiotic” tax increases.
- Wealthy non-doms rush to leave the UK ahead of April next year. Taking their £118 million of investment each with them…
- Over 80 retail bosses wrote to Reeves, slamming the budget for “holding back current investments” triggering “store closures and job losses”.
- Over 200 hospitality bosses, including of JD Wetherspoon, Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group, Young’s, and Whitbread, signed a letter warning they’ll be forced to shut sites and slash jobs after the Chancellor’s tax raid.
- James Reed, head of a major recruitment firm, warned that companies were planning to relocate “tens of thousands” of roles to cheaper countries like India.
- Deutsche Bank warned City clients that the Budget would cut 100,000 jobs through layoffs and missed opportunities for new roles.
- JLL predicted a staggering 20% jump in house prices by 2029, with house prices set to soar nearly twice as fast as inflation over the next five years.
- Sainsbury’s boss said NI bill alone is set to rocket by £140 million next year—a “very significant” 50% increase with the “barrage of costs” ending up being passed on to hard-pressed shoppers.
- The UK stock market experienced a record £2.6 billion exodus in October.
If this doesn’t convince Reeves that she might not be the most pro-growth Chancellor to date, Guido suggests she read his other list of blistering reactions from business leaders to her budget…
