Labour has thrown out democracy - MPs are being blocked from advising on the Budget - Howard Cox

Everyone knows Rachel Reeves will eagerly deliver fiscal pain, as her boss, our self-righteous new Prime Minister, espoused in late August, speaking from his new backyard in Number 10.

I have also learned that this patently autocratic new Government has genuinely thrown out democracy. Incredibly, it has crushed any chance of MPs' lobbying for any input in the Budget from as early as September 10.

The new Government sent the following correspondence to MPs on October 7, 2024, telling them it was too late to change the content of the Budget.

They said to our newly elected MPs: “Unfortunately, the deadline to submit specific issues for consideration as part of the Autumn Budget 2024 passed at 23:59 on 10 September 2024.”

This is unprecedented. In my experience campaigning for FairFuelUK over the last 14 years, backbench suggestions into the Budget were always possible up to a few days before its delivery.

Why are Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves stifling democratic recommendations? In its first 100 days, this Government has been marred by dishonesty, self-service, and political opportunism.

These traits have not gone unnoticed, leading to a significant drop in its popularity, with the Prime Minister’s standing in the public domain at an all-time low. All the credible chatter from Whitehall points to a Budget that will further squeeze their Manifesto pledges into yet more shameless dishonesty.

The big theme is that the Labour Party’s manifesto promised that working people would not be subject to national insurance, income tax, or VAT rises. The operative phrase is ‘working people.’

For instance, Rachel Reeves is highly likely to propose removing the national insurance exemption on employer pension contributions.

Employers are currently not required to pay national insurance on their pension contributions. However, if this exemption is removed, it will result in an annual increase of over £2billion to the Treasury. This will undoubtedly place a heavy burden on working people with lower wages.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the Manifesto freezing of their triple tax guarantee applied to “employees and income tax.” We must read into that as nothing but a sleight of the tongue. Rishi Sunak put this election deception to Keir Starmer at a recent PMQs.

So, no one will be surprised if the chancellor raises NI payments made by employers because they see small business bosses as not working people.This level of patronising guile has to be challenged by all the opposition parties and electioneering authorities.

The economically naïve Chancellor claims that “rich Britons will bear the largest burden” in her maiden Budget on August 30. As a result, I am sure the following two tax changes will feature significantly and painfully.

There is widespread speculation that the Chancellor could either increase Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates or reduce the £3,000 allowance, potentially affecting business owners, shareholders, and landlords.

Labour argues that CGT is a wealth tax rather than a tax on work, so again, it is a perfect sleight-of-hand policy, protecting their Manifesto, which promises taxes will not go up on working people. Labour will likely increase the Inheritance Tax (IHT) too, which currently stands at 40 per cent on properties valued over £325,000.

The number of estates will rise steeply over the coming years, so lowering the exemption threshold would generate substantial revenue. How could a Labour Chancellor not take advantage and cash in big time? Returning to Labour’s promised triple tax protection of working people, the Chancellor should welcome my successful campaigning focus of keeping Fuel Duty frozen for a 15th consecutive year.

But all the fiscal mood music emanating from Number Eleven is that this regressive tax will be increased by at least 5p per litre.

The Centre for Economic Business Research (Cebr) says that the long-term impact of increasing fuel duty could lead to a staggering tax revenue collapse of more than 60 per cent within five years.

They also warned that CPI and job losses will increase. The ominous spectres of re-introducing the fuel price escalator and an unthought-out ‘pay per mile’ scheme loom ominously. Sadly, Reeves will ignore the expert economic forecasts. This anti-driver Government is hell-bent on a virtue-signalling costly Net Zero fantasy to justify hitting the motors and the logistic businesses hard. Emotion rules their decision-making, not scientific and economic facts.

The 2030 ban on new diesel and petrol car sales is also a costly policy that will cripple our economy, but the green tinge of stupidity is stubbornly entrenched. What's the point of bankrupting the economy? This virtue signalling Ban will cost at least five times the alleged environmental benefits. It's fiscal insanity!

Fuel supply chain profiteering persists, too, with petrol and particularly diesel drivers continuously robbed right under this Government's watch.

Despite the Tory Government agreeing in January 2024 to adopt FairFuelUK's PumpWatch, petrol businesses' voluntary participation in PumpWatch has been disastrous. PumpWatch must be given legislative teeth in this Budget. Will the Chancellor do that? I suspect not, as the VAT from forecourt fuel sales is too risky to lose.

LATEST OPINION FROM MEMBERSHIP:

• Britain is the illegal immigration capital of Europe - nothing Starmer’s government has done will change that - Alp Mehmet
• Rachel Reeves is plotting to hike ancient tax which shouldn't exist at all - Nigel Nelson
• 'ECHR is not to blame for Britain's failure on illegal migration - the problem lies within the Home Office'

It would be fantastic news if the Chancellor announced the setting up of an expert road-user group to produce, for the first time, a long-term road transport policy that all political parties would endorse.

FairFuelUK has called for this vital missing strategy since 2010. It would help plan infrastructure expenditure and help stabilise the economy.

Other dire Treasury murmurings centre on changing tax levels on pensions, our savings, Council tax bands and increasing alcohol duty.

So, the fictitious Tory £22billion black hole deficit will continue to be trumpeted from the despatch box to justify a painful Budget. Instead of putting money into all our pockets to increase spending, strengthen the economy, and generate growth taxes, Labour will revert to type. It’s in their DNA.

The last time they were in power under Blair and Brown, they increased Fuel Duty by 46 per cent while selling our gold reserves, too.The level of pain on those who punished the Tories by letting in this manifestly incompetent Labour administration will be massive. Buyer’s remorse will deepen!