I am delighted with the election of Kemi Badenoch as leader of the Conservative Party, the candidate I had voted for. Now the leadership contest has concluded, the task of holding the new Labour Government to account begins in earnest. It cannot come too soon, given last week’s budget. We saw a budget of economic recklessness. Party was put before country with a budget that sought to disguise the real impacts it would have.
Cheered on by Labour MPs, Rachel Reeves has indulged in the largest amount of tax rises in 30 years. In a dubious moving of the goalposts, government borrowing is also going to skyrocket. Economic growth is being downgraded and the cost of government borrowing is rising, which is likely to mean higher inflation and higher borrowing costs for everyone.
The £25 billion National Insurance increase is a tax on jobs that is going to have all sorts of consequences, but ultimately when combined with subdued economic growth, it is going to mean less jobs and higher unemployment.
What hasn’t been widely advertised are the increases in Stamp Duty and the making it harder for council tenants to buy their own homes. Labour are making housing even more expensive and home ownership out of reach for more people, when it is already too expensive. Labour’s Angela Rayner was very happy to profit from buying and selling her own council house, and now with typical Labour hypocrisy, she wants to make owning your own council home out of reach for everyone else.
Stamp Duty currently isn’t payable on properties under £250,000 but from next year the taxable level will fall to £125,000, meaning that it will become impossible for existing homeowners to buy any property in Crawley without paying Stamp Duty. First time buyers are also hit, seeing the level that they start to pay Stamp Duty, fall significantly.
With Gatwick being vital for Crawley’s economy, Labour’s increase in Passenger Air Duty impacts us more than just the cost of our own holidays. Over two years, the standard rate tax for flights over 2000 miles rises by £50.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
6th November 2024
