Rachel Reeves will face vexed business leaders today who have accused Labour or stalling economic growth by taxing businesses more heavily.
At the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference today in Westminster, the Chancellor will be grilled over her October Budget, which has been slammed for "damaging investment".
The CBI’s director-general, Rain Newton-Smith will urge Reeves to ease the pressure on struggling companies, and will insist that the tax hikes recently implemented should never be repeated.
She is expected to say: "When you hit profits, you hit competitiveness, you hit investment, you hit growth.
“Almost two-thirds of firms told us this budget will damage UK investment.
"Tax rises like this must never again be simply done to business. That’s the road to unintended consequences.”
The Chancellor will face delegates at the event in London where she will defend her decision to hike business costs, claiming she had “no alternative”.
Announced last month in Labour's first Budget in 14 years, the Chancellor said there would be a £25billion increase in employer national insurance contributions (NICs). Employers have warned that this will force them to cut jobs and raise prices.
Speaking at the event, Reeves is expected to say: "I have heard lots of responses to the government’s first budget but I have heard no alternatives.
“We have asked businesses and the wealthiest to contribute more. I know those choices will have an impact. But I stand by those choices as the right choices for our country: investment to fix the NHS and rebuild Britain, while ensuring working people don’t face higher taxes in their payslips.
“We had to clear up the mess of what we had been left,” Reeves will tell the CBI. “The easiest thing I could have done is to have dodged the difficult choices. Put short-term interests before the national interest. I was not willing to do that.”
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Reeves' Budget slammed by CBI chief: 'Firms were caught off guard'
Reeves could also be considering a significant reduction to tax-free pension withdrawalsGettyRachel Reeves' budget has been slammed by the head of one of the UK’s biggest business organisations, who said that firms were caught “off guard” by the hike in national insurance contributions (NICs).
Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry, said the measures announced last month have made it more difficult to “take a chance” on hiring new people.
“It’s CFOs (chief financial officers) asking, ‘can we afford to invest? Can we afford to expand? Can we afford to take a chance on new people?’
“Well after the Budget, the answer we’re hearing from so many firms is still ‘not yet’.
“The rise in national insurance, the stark lowering of the threshold, caught us all off guard.
“Along with the expansion and the rise of the national living wage – which everyone wants to accommodate – and the potential cost of the Employment Rights Bill, they put a heavy burden on business.”
She also criticised the changes to inheritance tax relief for farmers, saying it had left them “fearful” about their future.
Labour accused of 'turning the farming sector against government' with inheritance tax raid: 'They've got this WRONG!'
Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain has launched a scathing attack on Labour's inheritance tax changes for farmers, declaring the Government has "got this one wrong."
Speaking to GB News, Chamberlain highlighted growing opposition to what critics have dubbed the "family farm tax".
Chamberlain revealed that farmers from her own constituency of North East Fife had travelled to London to protest the changes.
Drink spiking to be made a criminal offence under Labour in bid to protect women and girls
Starmer hosts summit PASir Keir Starmer has pledged to make drink spiking a criminal offence as part of a crackdown on violence against women and girls.
The Prime Minister has said that bar staff will be trained to stop spiking, help victims, and collect evidence to support prosecutions by Spring 2025.
He is bringing chief constables, transport bosses and industry executives to Downing Street today to form a united response to “bring the vile perpetrators to justice”.
Labour pledged in its manifesto to make spiking an offence, and whilst it is unclear when the legislation would be introduced, ministers and officials are understood to be trying to bring it in swiftly.
The Prime Minister said: “I made a promise that, if elected, I would make spiking a new criminal offence. Today, I am proud to have come good on that pledge.”
He said the proposals are part of Labour’s plan to halve violence on females in the next decade.
Starmer told the meeting: “There are a number of measures that we are setting out this morning – we want to talk it through with you.
“The first is to make spiking a specific offence so that it counts, it’s reported.”
He said that such a measure would mean that it “enables everybody to have the confidence to come forward” and also “it allows perpetrators to know that it’s a specific offence”.
Detailing the training scheme, he went on: “We’re beginning the piloting of training for staff in venues.”
Russia planning to conduct cyber-attacks through AI against UK, Pat McFadden will warn
Pat McFaddenPARussia and enemies of the UK are trying to use artificial intelligence to strengthen cyber-attacks against the nation’s infrastructure, Pat McFadden has warned.
The Cabinet Office minister will issue this warning at a Nato conference in London later today, declaring that artificial intelligence is “revolutionising many parts of life – including national security”.
He will announce the launch of the Laboratory for AI Security Research (Lasr), which will work to improve Britain’s cyber resilience.
McFadden said that AI “could be weaponised against us,” and warned that Moscow is preparing to launch a wave of attacks to try and cripple the UK's infrastructure.
He said an attack could “shut down the power grids” and batter the economy.
Home Office minister defends Justice Secretary's opposition to assisted dying bill
Home Office minister defends Justice Secretary's opposition to assisted dying bill
PA
Home Office minister Jess Phillips has defended her colleague Shabana Mahmood’s criticism of the assisted dying Bill, despite being in favour of it herself.
Justice Secretary Ms Mahmood is one of several senior Cabinet figures who has announced that they would not be supporting the Bill.
She and other opponents have been criticised by Labour peer Lord Falconer as giving voters a “false impression” about the Government’s position.
The former Justice Secretary said that those who were against the Bill were “getting more coverage” as those in favour were instead “playing by the rules”.
Mahmood told a constituent she was “profoundly concerned” the Bill would initiate a “slippery slope towards death on demand” and that “the state should never offer death as a service”.
Asked by Times Radio if Mahmood was imposing her faith on others by announcing she would not support the Bill, Phillips said: “She will make the decision about how she votes on assisted dying on a matter of conscience, just exactly like I will.
“How she comes to that and what moral code she uses to come to that will be exactly the same as the moral code that I use to come to that decision as well.”
She added: “I think that Shabana is making a decision on what she thinks is best for her constituents, like every constituency MP.”
Phillips said she “fundamentally” believes in “a right to choose”.
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