BUSINESS chiefs are warning the Chancellor she is risking death by a thousand taxes.
They say growth, not taxes, is the only way to end Britain’s decline — and warn Rachel Reeves of a financial crisis without spending cuts.
They also say there has been too much speculation over this year’s Budget measures, just like there was last year — making it feel like Groundhog Day.
Rain Newton-Smith, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, will say today: “This Budget is about credibility. About trust.
“You will never be able to tax your way to growth.
“Tax rises alone are bound to fail unless they are matched by forward momentum.
“Growth, not taxes, is the only way out of decline. And that starts with business.”
Ministers must avoid “death by a thousand taxes” to help them, she adds.
Ms Newton-Smith will say that months of speculation about Budget measures, like last year, have had severe consequences for businesses.
She will say: “One year later, here we are again. A new fiscal gap, billions of pounds wide. More rumours, more U-turns, raising uncertainty. Business holding its breath again. Investment paused, projects on hold again.
“It feels less like we’re on the move. And more like we’re stuck in Groundhog Day.”
Business Secretary Peter Kyle will also tell the rally that he will push ahead with plans to cut energy costs for 7,000 UK businesses from April 2027.
Meanwhile, ex-Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane has accused the Government of dancing a “fiscal fandango” around the Budget.
And he warned: “There’s a risk of a Wile E. Coyote moment for this Government.
“The ground disappears from beneath their feet in financial markets and that is to be avoided at all cost.”
XMAS JOB ‘KILL’
LABOUR will kill off temporary Christmas jobs in workers’ rights plans, Kemi Badenoch claims.
It will hit small businesses, as temps hired to work 40 hours in December will be able to demand the same hours for three months after, the Tory boss will tell the CBI conference today.
The Treasury said the Chancellor’s Budget would “focus on the priorities of working people”.
£2.3K FREEZE HIT
FREEZING tax thresholds will cost typical wor-kers £2,310 by the end of the decade, figures show.
The freeze kicked in 2021 and is now likely to be extended at the Budget — hitting taxpayers as bands stay the same but wages go up.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance, which came up with the £2,310 figure, accused Labour and Tories of “fiscal duplicity”.
The Treasury said: “We do not comment on tax speculation.”
