Political destruction of economy

Government increased taxation is suffocating any chance of growth

- by RODNEY ATKINSON

BRITAIN'S new Labour Government has managed in six months to reduce an economy growing at the fastest rate in the G7 group of leading economies to falls of -0.1 per cent in both September and October 2024.

There has been no growth in the large services sector, as fearful consumers reduced spending and business paused investment. With manufacturing and construction declining at a pace of 0.6 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively in October, annual inflation rose to 2.6 per cent.

The generosity distributed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves to doctors, train drivers and the nationalised sickness service (NHS £25 bn extra) led to a budget in which the state raised taxes by a staggering £40bn, increased the minimum wage, increased already crippling business rates and increased employers' national insurance payments for each worker.

All this was in order to 'go for economic growth', but even the Office for Budget Responsibility understandably predicted the budget would make business investment weaker, and the Bank of England reduced its growth forecast to zero in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The state-dominated British economy impoverishes everyone. An analysis by The TaxPayers' Alliance showed that the average household will pay over £1.2m in tax in their lifetime, meaning they would have to work for 19.5 years just to pay off the taxman.