It’s another bleak chapter for Britain’s beleaguered business sector as companies brace for Reeves’ looming £40 billion tax raid next month. Starting salaries are rising at the slowest pace in four years, with last month seeing “substantial declines” in demand for staff as permanent job openings dropped for the 18th consecutive month, according to a KPMG and REC survey. The report also notes an increase in worker availability due to the rise in redundancies. Unsurprisingly, businesses are pointing fingers at rising payroll costs imposed by Reeves…
Meanwhile, one in five SMEs – around 300,000 – have signalled plans to cut jobs, according to loan provider Iwoca. Seema Desai of Iwoca said, “Based on our survey, rising employer NI contributions are likely to result in slower wage growth and job losses among small and medium-sized businesses.” So much for Labour’s lofty promises of being ‘pro-business’…
UPDATE: Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Business Secretary, said:
“As predicted, Labour’s jobs tax is ruining the economy, and it will be working people paying the price. We need a government that supports not punishes those who do the right thing. But, for hard up small businesses, things can only get worse with the job killer Employment Bill looming on the horizon. This is a Labour government with almost no business experience between them, and the country is footing the bill.”
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.”