• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Would Rachel Reeves’s Communist Party Heroine Be Proud of Her £40bn Tax-Hiking Budget?

by Will Jones
30 October 2024 2:34 PM

Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who, it emerged this week, replaced a picture of Nigel Lawson in her office with one of Communist Party founder Ellen Wilkinson, has delivered her £40bn tax-hiking budget. Is it one that her heroine would be proud of? We list some of the winners and losers.

Outgoing Conservative leader and former PM Rishi Sunak said the Budget contained “broken promise after broken promise”.

Today his actions speak for themselves with a Budget that contains broken promise after broken promise and reveals the simple truth that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have not been straight with the British people.

Time and again we Conservatives warned Labour would tax, borrow and spend far beyond what they were telling the country and time and again they denied they had such plans. 

But today the truth has come out, proof that they planned to do this all along because today’s Budget sees the fiscal rules fiddled, borrowing increased by billions of pounds, inflation-busting handouts for the trade unions, Britain’s poorest pensioners squeezed, welfare spending out of control and a spree of tax rises they promised the working people of this country they would not do. …

This is the truth: They have fiddled the figures, they have raised tax to record levels. 

They have broken their promises and it is the working people of this country that are going to pay the price.

The Chancellor and Prime Minister have tried to say that they had no choice but be in no doubt, their misleading claims about the state of the economy are nothing but a cynical political device. …

When we left office the United Kingdom was the fastest growing advanced economy in the world.

These are her choices so stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility for them.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said the Budget “delivers a large, sustained increase in spending, taxation and borrowing”.

As a result of public spending increasing by almost £70bn a year over the next five years, “the size of the state is forecast to settle at 44% of GDP (gross domestic product) by the end of the decade, almost five percentage points higher than before the pandemic”.

Half of the increase comes from tax hikes of around £36 billion a year, pushing the tax take to a “historic high of 38% of GDP by 2029-30”.

The other half comes from £32 billion a year of increased borrowing, “one of the largest fiscal loosenings of any fiscal event in recent decades”.

Against a largely unchanged economic and fiscal backdrop, today’s Budget delivers a large, sustained increase in spending, tax, and borrowing; a temporary boost to the economy; and a new set of fiscal rules.

Richard Hughes explains five things you need to know about our forecast pic.twitter.com/mjsCWPNuvj

— Office for Budget Responsibility (@OBR_UK) October 30, 2024

Tory MP and leadership candidate Robert Jenrick wrote on X: “Labour complete the biggest heist in modern political history. They won power promising not to raise taxes. They lied.”

Labour complete the biggest heist in modern political history.

They won power promising not to raise taxes.

They lied. pic.twitter.com/p8eYhRW8nF

— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) October 30, 2024

Winners

Minimum wage workers: 6.7% increase to the national minimum wage up to £12.21 an hour from April 2025, an extra £1,400 a year for a full-time worker. The wage for 18 to 20 year-olds to rise by £1.40 per hour.

State pensioners: State pension to rise by 4% in April due to triple lock.

Drivers: The freeze on fuel duty has been extended for two years.

Drinkers: Draught beer duty cut by 1.7 points.

Green Blob: Funding announced for 11 new unicorns green hydrogen projects across England.

David Goldstone: The new head of the Office for Value for Money sits on the board of HS2 as a Non-Executive Director, a project whose second leg was cancelled last year by Rishi Sunak as a result of the delays and overspend.

State schools: £6.7 billion of capital investment for the Department for Education next year.

NHS: £25 billion for the NHS, comprising £22.6 billion for the day-to-day health budget and £3.1 billion for capital investment. 

Ministry of Defence: Budget increase of £2.9 billion next year.

Losers

Employers: Employers’ National Insurance raised by 1.2 points from 13.8% to 15% and the threshold lowered from £9,100 to £5,000, which may be reflected in reduced pay for employees. This is expected to raise £25 billion for the Treasury.

Families: Unspent pensions to be within the scope of inheritance tax from April 2027. Thresholds for estates will remain frozen until 2030 (meaning more will be drawn into paying the tax). Farmers with assets over £1 million to be subject to a 20% inheritance tax, threatening the sale of many farms on the death of the owner.

Investors: Capital gains tax raised: lower rate up from 10% to 18%, higher rate from 20% to 24%. The rate paid on second homes has not risen.

Landlords: Stamp duty surcharge for second properties up by two points, to 5%, to come into effect tonight.

Workers: Income tax thresholds to remain frozen until 2028. The Chancellor has committed to unfreezing them from 2028.

Private schools: Fee-paying schools to lose VAT exemption from January and business rate relief from April.

Oil and gas companies: Windfall tax on oil and gas companies (Energy Profits Levy) to increase to 38% (expiring in March 2030) and 29% investment allowance removed. 

Smokers and vapers: Tax on hand-rolling tobacco to increase by 10 points while a flat rate levy will be imposed on all vaping liquids from October 2026. (Note disposable vapes will be banned from June next year.)

Non-doms: Non-dom tax status to be scrapped from April next year.

Social housing tenants: Right to Buy discounts to be reduced.

Tags: BudgetCommunist Party of Great BritainKeir StarmerLabourRachel Reeves

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

The Saga of the Benin Bronzes Takes a Farcical New Turn

Next Post

White House Tries to Cover Up Biden Calling Trump Supporters “Garbage”

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

30 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Art Simtotic
Art Simtotic
3 months ago

Once a Miligoon, always a Miligoon. Good fit for the Goons hybrid-powered Lew Grade-Ernie Cash character of a bygone era…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Goon_Show_cast_members_and_characters

“…Character with a nasal sterotypical voice; usually a fast-talking theatrical agent or impresario, who cajoles actors in the wings with two broken legs to break another one.”

One a goon, always a goon. Where’s Spike Milligan when you need him..?

https://youtu.be/TkOAUht3G5o?t=127

…Bit of a luvviefest, but now, as 30 years ago, an inexhaustible supply of candidates to play The Grovelling Bastard.

Having said that, the original candidate still nowadays puts in strong showing, especially when pandering to the teen-hobgoblin turned terrorist-acolyte mugshotted above.

Everything changes, everything stays the same.

Last edited 3 months ago by Art Simtotic
5
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
3 months ago

“There is no doubt his passion for protecting the environment is real.”

I have a great passion for trying to nail jelly to my living room ceiling. Doesn’t mean I should become the Secretary for Jelly Ceilings and be given full control of the country’s domestic housing and jelly manufacturing policies.

Milibrain being titled the Energy Secretary is nonsense. He should be called the No Energy Secretary.

Silly Walk, anyone?

Last edited 3 months ago by Marcus Aurelius knew
34
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
3 months ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

Link for the kids:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iV2ViNJFZC8

6
0
Dinger64
Dinger64
3 months ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

FYI, if you put a penny washer on the nail it really does help to hold the jelly up in place 😉

( and that picture at the top has given me the wim whams! It really reaches deep into the uncanny valley) Talk about the spawn of Satan)

Last edited 3 months ago by Dinger64
2
0
StickyWicket
StickyWicket
3 months ago

If Ed thinks that carpeting farmland with solar panels, desecrating our land and seascapes with bat-chomping, bird-slicing and whale-killing wind turbines that require massive mineral mining to produce is protecting the environment, he’s even more delusional than I thought.

34
0
Jonathan M
Jonathan M
3 months ago
Reply to  StickyWicket

Oh, he is. Very much more.

10
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
3 months ago
Reply to  Jonathan M

An IYI – INTELLECTUAL YET IDIOT

4
0
Hester
Hester
3 months ago

What Ed like the rest of his ilk miss, is that they claim they are focused on saving the planet for future generations, where their logic falls down is that he expects that people alive today are willing to immiserate their lives and those of their children for generations not even thought of being conceived yet, furthermore the chances of their being many white western children conceived when people are struggling with poverty inflicted by Ed and co seems to be, being ignored.
In reality the excuse of saving the planet for future generations is another gas lighting lie by the wokerati, they are a death cult, they want the world rid of the majority of humanity so they and their children get to own everything.

26
0
Cotfordtags
Cotfordtags
3 months ago
Reply to  Hester

In all truth, with the demographic change likely for this country over the next twenty years, maybe we should just say, stuff it, let them get on with building a third world country.

7
0
Cotfordtags
Cotfordtags
3 months ago

Where I live, we have a Facebook page dedicated to issues for the town. Having first written in protest to my Liberal Democrat MP asking her not to vote for the CAN bill and at the very least abstain, I thought I would draw the attention of my community to the bill by giving some details about it, using the excellent material from Chris Morrison on this site. I expected some support and even some push back, but what really amazed me was the personal abuse I received from, presumably, LibDem and Green supporters. No challenge to what I said, just abuse!

31
0
Tyrbiter
Tyrbiter
3 months ago
Reply to  Cotfordtags

The only thing they will understand is cold, hard steel.

13
0
Marcus Aurelius knew
Marcus Aurelius knew
3 months ago
Reply to  Tyrbiter

Cold, hard steel… Aye, when it’s too late for them to understand.

4
0
The Real Engineer
The Real Engineer
3 months ago
Reply to  Marcus Aurelius knew

As Jones said “they don’t like it up ’em”, and this is getting closer!

2
0
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
3 months ago
Reply to  Cotfordtags

Abuse means they know they have lost the argument

18
0
BillT
BillT
3 months ago
Reply to  Cotfordtags

I also wrote to my LibDem MP (former Tory seat where the incumbent stood down). There were two occasions; first I told him I’d signed the petition to rescind the net zero law, second pointing out the obvious down sides to the CAN bill. He replied to both, trotting out the party line which is easy from his POV because it doesn’t require any thought at all. Like your abusive responders, none of the issues I raised was addressed.

15
0
Michael Staples
Michael Staples
3 months ago
Reply to  Cotfordtags

My stamping ground, Seaford and Lewes in East Sussex was previously very Conservative. Now the Lib Dems and Greens dominate. We have a “Climate Hub” in our town and everyone seems to want to be nice to the environment without a care for the economy. It is the general attitude of smug unthinking middle class people who are well off.

2
0
Old Arellian
Old Arellian
3 months ago

“some analysts are starting to question whether the National Grid can keep up” – STARTING TO? Where have they been? In a coma? WTAF

25
0
sskinner
sskinner
3 months ago

“Ed Sees Himself As Greta Thunberg!”What a low low bar.

17
0
Pete Sutton
Pete Sutton
3 months ago

Ed – the Blocker in Chief – will soon inherit the title Prince of Darkness… and Cold. And in fact ruination in general.

10
0
Jon Garvey
Jon Garvey
3 months ago

“You have to understand, there are two Eds. Actually, there are three.”

Ah – multiple personality disorder – that explains a lot.

13
0
Tyrbiter
Tyrbiter
3 months ago

If there is an existential threat to the public’s wellbeing then it can only be met with exactly that threat applied to those pushing for net zero.

I’m game.

Last edited 3 months ago by Tyrbiter
9
0
JXB
JXB
3 months ago

There’s a fourth Ed, Grifter Miliband a has-been who is milking the Green scam and setting himself up for life after politics on international bodies, NGOs, consultancies, etc for anything Green-related.

27
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
3 months ago
Reply to  JXB

Definitely.

11
0
Kornea112
Kornea112
3 months ago
Reply to  JXB

The Golden Rule is “Always Follow the Money”.

3
0
Bill Hickling
Bill Hickling
3 months ago

Electricity four times the cost of the USA! That is a testament to failed energy policy in the UK.

24
0
Gezza England
Gezza England
3 months ago
Reply to  Bill Hickling

If we had much industry left it would be forming an orderly convoy to leave the country in the way they are in Germany.

8
0
The Real Engineer
The Real Engineer
3 months ago
Reply to  Gezza England

They have already left! Steel – gone. Cars going fast. Woven goods, gone. Shoes, gone. Electrical equipment, gone. What important is left?

2
0
transmissionofflame
transmissionofflame
3 months ago

Perhaps they think Milibrain will boil the frogs too quickly and they will notice before it’s too late. Otherwise, “green” policies perfectly suit “socialism”.

9
0
Marque1
Marque1
3 months ago

That is a very disturbing picture. He resembles the Doom Goblin far too closely.

9
0
Pete Sutton
Pete Sutton
3 months ago
Reply to  Marque1

I think AI might have had a role in creating that very disturbing picture… until I read your post, I hadn’t noticed – proof of an alarming resemblance!

9
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
3 months ago

There is no question that unless Millibrain is stopped and removed he will destroy not just the Labour Party but the country also. Apparently Kneel and co are happy with this scenario. Personally the destruction of Labour would be like a beautiful Christmas present but not my country.

The Tories under Bozo and Fishy initiated the breakdown of this country although Fishy clearly could not see it through and capitulated hoping Kneel would see the job to the end. Who then will fill the political void?

The Tories are nothing but a useless rump and cannot recover so they are out of the reckoning. Kneel is determined to similarly destroy Labour which means there will be a gaping hole in our political infrastructure.

The question is, who will govern the country?

Are we seriously expecting Reform to fill the gap? Are we seriously expecting 350 members with the nous, the commitment, the business experience and ability of Rupert Lowe to emerge from the masses and be capable of setting about the restoration of our country?

No, it’s not going to happen. And perhaps this is the intention. When we are utterly f#cked as a nation, reduced to tatters with our best bits sold to monsters such as Fink and Gates perhaps we will be delighted to be on the receiving end of a Davos Management Committee, the sort that deals out the grub portions, the chemical breads and twice yearly jabs. And perhaps we won’t.

Conspiracy theory? Too grotesque? One thing we do know is that we do not have a Donald J. Trump waiting in the wings so the future doesn’t look all that bright.

I hope I am wrong but at the moment nothing suggests I am.

Last edited 3 months ago by huxleypiggles
11
-1
soundofreason
soundofreason
3 months ago

You have to understand, there are two Eds. Actually, there are three.

Our main weapon is surprise. Surprise and fear…

5
0
BillT
BillT
3 months ago

If Rachel from customer services wants to cut back on costs (as is reported) the lowest of the low hanging fruit is the planned £22bn pencilled in for carbon capture over the next 5 years. It might be the first welcome step in curtailing the activities of the mad Milipede.

18
0
Gezza England
Gezza England
3 months ago
Reply to  BillT

Things will get much worse for Rachel very quickly as liquidation specialists are expecting 50,000 businesses to fail in the months ahead as her budget pushes them over the edge. We haven’t even got the Ranting Raynor’s destruction of the workplace legislation yet. Ben Habeeb was forecasting Rachel needing to crawl off to the IMF before the year’s out
to prop up the country.

Last edited 3 months ago by Gezza England
9
0
huxleypiggles
huxleypiggles
3 months ago
Reply to  Gezza England

IMF? Yes, I have been warning we would soon be cap in hand…please Sir.

2
0
Jabby Mcstiff
Jabby Mcstiff
3 months ago

I don’t see why it will never take hold. These Auutstic types reaslly aren’t worth listening to. I’ve encountered them in my life and in my mind I essentially put them in the category of sub-human. Yes there are many of them but that shouldn’t really matter. When things get really bad you won’t care dick about any green agenda.

1
0
The Real Engineer
The Real Engineer
3 months ago
Reply to  Jabby Mcstiff

I don’t see what Millibrains gospel has to do with being autistic. Greta probably is, Millibrain has a 3(or4) way Schizophrenia which should be enough to get him locked up.

2
0
WillP
WillP
3 months ago

And there’s Ed the fratricidal creep who will stab anyone who gets in the way on his self delusion.

7
0
CGW
CGW
3 months ago

Some at least temporary good news from https://expose-news.com/2025/01/25/true-reasons-for-the-climate-and-nature-bill/:

On Friday, the Climate and Nature Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons.

102 MPs were required to vote in favour of the bill to progress to the next stage; instead, 120 MPs voted to adjourn the debate for the second reading. The Bill is scheduled to be debated again on 11 July.

4
0
DontPanic
DontPanic
3 months ago

I don’t believe his passion is real. Like climate “scientists” whose income relies on saying the doom is upon us . According to Colin Fernandez in the Daily Mail Ed Miliband has racked up around 23,000 air miles since the General Election – all on trips relating to stopping global warming. Ed is a hypocrite. That is more than I have flown in my lifetime and I am now 65.

Last edited 3 months ago by DontPanic
6
0
DontPanic
DontPanic
3 months ago

He is a danger to airlines, having threatened to bring down multiple aircraft with his policies. He should be put on a no fly list.

6
0
allanplaskett
allanplaskett
3 months ago

Castigating net-zero nutters is frustrating, because they agrees with your points. (1) They agree that removing our paltry contribution to CO2 will make zero difference to the atmosphere. (2) They agree that China and India, who each put out more new CO2 every year than our entire output, do not intend, and are not obliged by the Paris Accords, to even begin reducing until 2050. (3) They agree that the intermittency of wind and solar obliges you to have gas-fired on permanent standby, with all attendant costs. (4) They agree that the example we are supposedly setting is one other countries cannot follow. Not everyone can offshore their emissions. They agree net zero is futile. But, We gotta just do it anyway.

Last edited 3 months ago by allanplaskett
5
0
mrbu
mrbu
3 months ago
Reply to  allanplaskett

I’ve encountered the same thing. It’s as though they have the capacity for logical thought, but have been conditioned to ignore the conclusions.

5
0
allanplaskett
allanplaskett
3 months ago
Reply to  mrbu

Thank you. That’s what I meant to say.

3
0
The Real Engineer
The Real Engineer
3 months ago
Reply to  mrbu

I don’t think they have any capacity for logical thought, which means they cannot understand the non-engineering of any solution. It is simply not possible to have renewables only at any price. In fact the problem is that they think the public purse is infinitely big!

3
0
mrbu
mrbu
3 months ago

Scary picture at the head of this article!
On electricity supplies: I’m rather sorry we didn’t have electricity blackouts the other week when demand nearly outstripped the available supply. The sooner people start suffering from the effects of the Net Zero dash, the sooner there’ll be pressure to pause and then reverse the damage being done to our energy supplies. The longer we scrape by, the longer the (unthinking) majority of the UK population will think Net Zero isn’t a problem.
On Heathrow: Do the climate fanatics/fantasists think it’s a good thing to have aircraft circling in hold patterns overhead, burning fuel unnecessarily, when an extra runway would allow them to come straight in and land?

5
0
The Real Engineer
The Real Engineer
3 months ago
Reply to  mrbu

They used the alternative solution to blackouts, which was paying £300,000 per MWhr to some generators. It was your money which will be charged to you later! That is £300 per kWhr BTW.

2
0

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

In Episode 35 of the Sceptic: Andrew Doyle on Labour’s Grooming Gang Shame, Andrew Orlowski on the India-UK Trade Deal and Canada’s Ignored Covid Vaccine Injuries

by Richard Eldred
9 May 2025
4

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

BBC Quietly Edits Question Time After Wrongly ‘Correcting’ Richard Tice on Key Net Zero Claim

9 May 2025

Electric Car Bursts into Flames on Driveway and Engulfs £550,000 Family Home

9 May 2025

News Round-Up

10 May 2025

Hugely Influential Covid Vaccine Study Claiming the Jabs Saved Millions of Lives Torn to Shreds in Medical Journal

10 May 2025

Ed Miliband’s Housing Energy Plan Will Decimate the Rental Market and Send Rents Spiralling

10 May 2025

News Round-Up

52

Teenage Girl Banned by the Football Association For Asking Transgender Opponent “Are You a Man?” Wins Appeal With Help of Free Speech Union

21

What Does David Lammy Mean by a State?

27

Ed Miliband’s Housing Energy Plan Will Decimate the Rental Market and Send Rents Spiralling

14

Hugely Influential Covid Vaccine Study Claiming the Jabs Saved Millions of Lives Torn to Shreds in Medical Journal

12

Major British Chemical Plant Faces Closure as Energy Prices Soar

10 May 2025

NHS Nurse “Forced Out for Mocking Trans Flag” to Sue Hospital

10 May 2025

Hugely Influential Covid Vaccine Study Claiming the Jabs Saved Millions of Lives Torn to Shreds in Medical Journal

10 May 2025

Teenage Girl Banned by the Football Association For Asking Transgender Opponent “Are You a Man?” Wins Appeal With Help of Free Speech Union

10 May 2025

Reflections on Empire, Papacy and States

10 May 2025

POSTS BY DATE

October 2024
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Sep   Nov »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment
Perfecty
Do you wish to receive notifications of new articles?
Notifications preferences