As bond market vigilantes digest the budget one group of working people is reeling from Reeves’ tax raid. Self-employed contractors…
Self-employed workers like IT contractors are prevented by HMRC rules known as IR35 from forming limited companies to interact with clients. Instead they are forced into classification as equivalent employees who have to be managed and paid by parasitic “umbrella companies,” which force them to pay the employer’s share of NICs along with additional fees. There are 700,000 UK self-employed in the umbrella system. 2.1% of the entire workforce…
A reduction of the threshold at which employers pay NI from 9,500 to 5,000 costs £650 on its own – that’s £455 million confiscated from self-employed workers. Then comes the 1.2% hike. Guido has spoken to self-employment representatives who say the additional cost for a median salary self-employed contractor will be between £700 and £950. No doubt Labour will come up with some reason for them to not be classed as ‘working people’…
Andy Chamberlain, Director of Policy at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, says this “hammer blow” is a “clear breach of government’s pledge not to raise taxes on working people. For many umbrella workers, this will cost them in excess of a thousand pounds per year.” Labour’s manifesto said it had a plan for the self-employed, who “face unique challenges.” At least they didn’t lie about that one…
The aftermath of the budget will make for a scary Halloween for Robber Reeves. Over the past three days, the Sterling is down by 1.2% – the biggest fall in more than 18 months. Meanwhile UK 10 year gilt yields are up 4.488%, a full percentage point higher than the day after Truss’ Budget. As Sky’s Ed Conway was saying just now, the markets are reacting in a “violent way”…
The government’s plan to ban disposable vapes by next summer has already been trashed by free-market wonks and industry insiders, the prevailing argument – one the NHS touts – being that many smokers turn to disposable vapes to cut back on cigarettes as a safer option. Now the government’s own impact assessment has admitted that the ban will lead to more people lighting up…
According to the report, “29% of current [vapers] will either revert/re-lapse to smoking tobacco” leading to a rise in “the sale of tobacco goods” with the ban ultimately likely to have “health disbenefits.” On top of that, there’s more for the taxpayer to inhale: the policy would burn through £8.6 million in lost landfill tax and add £2.2 million in extra Trading Standards inspections. Small businesses, meanwhile, look to get singed to the tune of £11.3 million over the next decade. Another nanny state policy that’s set to go up in flames…
Starmer was asked by ITV what he thought about the fact that 1) his popularity has collapsed at a faster rate than any PM in modern history, and 2) Labour’s manifesto happened not to mention £40 billion of tax rises in their very first budget. He wasn’t keen on chatting about that…
You’ve been played… pic.twitter.com/G3Ce2JLG2Q
— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) July 31, 2024
As he was asked three times about “blindsiding” voters with tax rises and yammered about coming into politics late. He said “most people in their heart of hearts” would agree with Labour’s brand-new policies. Funny they didn’t make their way into the manifesto then…
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has carried out a review this morning of the budget. Outgoing director Paul Johnson noted that Miliband has come out on top from yesterday: “It’s DESNZ which is the biggest winner in terms of extra cash.” Everyone is focusing on the NHS while Reeves’ Budget allocates £14.1 billion to DEZNZ next year, a 22% increase in current funding levels…
Johnson made clear that no one should confuse shoving cash into green projects with growth:
“That should help us deliver our climate ambitions, but that’s a different thing from increasing the supply-side capacity of the economy. It’s valuable to produce stuff more cleanly but it’s not the same as investing for growth.”
As Guido revealed during Labour Conference the government is considering spending billions of taxpayer cash on an energy “social tariff” to subsidise rising bills in the net zero transition, which it clandestinely accepts is going to hike energy costs. Meanwhile Reeves yesterday announced a new windfall tax hike on North Sea oil and gas producers to 38% from 35% and an extension of the levy by one year. Fuelling more reliance on foreign imports…
Ofcom has slapped GB News with a £100,000 fine over its show “The People’s Forum: The Prime Minister,” claiming there was a breach of impartiality because the audience didn’t represent a “wide range of significant views.” Clearly, they overlooked one passionate audience member who wasn’t shy about holding Sunak accountable for his handling of the Covid vaccines. Starmer was also offered the opportunity to participate in a GB News forum, though turned it down…
GB News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos slammed the decision, stating:
“The announcement by Ofcom to impose sanctions upon GB News in relation to the People’s Forum is a direct attack on free speech and journalism in the United Kingdom. We believe these sanctions are unnecessary, unfair and unlawful…At the People’s Channel we will continue to fearlessly champion freedom; for our viewers, for our listeners, and for everyone in the United Kingdom. As we have all seen, this is needed more than ever.”
What’s even more absurd is that Ofcom only received 547 complaints about the GB News show. Compare that to the jaw-dropping 16,812 complaints over the Good Morning Britain show which saw presenter Ed Balls giving his wife Yvette Cooper an easy ride. Ofcom didn’t even bat an eye to that one.
Meanwhile, the High Court has already allowed GB News to legally challenge Big Brother Ofcom’s ruling. Angelos added:
“The sanction proposed by Ofcom is therefore still subject to that legal challenge. The plan to sanction GB News flies in the face of Ofcom’s duty to act fairly, lawfully and proportionately to safeguard free speech, particularly political speech and on matters of public interest.”
The underdog is ready to put up a strong fight against the regulator…
Red Wall Labour backbencher Jonathan Brash told GB News that Starmer should resign:
“I’m completely fed up about it, and I think it’s got to the point now where I genuinely think that, as far as the Prime Minister is concerned, it’s not a case of if, it’s when.”