When I was appointed Shadow Chancellor a week ago today, it was pointed out – somewhat to my horror – that I may have more business experience than all of Andy Burnham’s Cabinet put together.
A career that went from injecting jam into doughnuts at a Tesco bakery to working as a board director at Sky teaches you a fundamental lesson that successive Labour administrations have yet to realise: Governments do not create growth, businesses do.
That is why I left the corporate world to enter politics. I understood that, for too long, the Government had seen it as its job to micro-manage rather than get out of the way.
As shadow chancellor, I will work night and day to smooth the path for both businesses and individuals. That means lower and simpler taxes, cheaper energy, less red tape and support for risk-taking entrepreneurs. Because right now, they are being attacked rather than being allowed to grow.
Despite growth being Labour’s supposed number one priority, and Burnham pledging ‘growth in every postcode’, the party has disproportionately targeted tax rises at businesses.
Whether it’s a hike in employer’s National Insurance, a stealth increase in business rates, or allowing energy costs to go sky-high, Labour’s policies crush the sort of people who create jobs and put money in pockets.
If anyone thinks a new Chancellor will mean a different approach, they are mistaken. John Healey has himself said that he will be a ‘continuity’ Chancellor, writes Andrew Griffith
If anyone thinks a new Chancellor will mean a different approach, they are mistaken. John Healey has himself said that he will be a ‘continuity’ Chancellor.
Since he was in the Cabinet that took collective responsibility for every one of his predecessor Rachel Reeves’s disastrous decisions, businesses and families will already be fearing yet more tax hikes. Add in the enormous black hole of spending promises Burnham has made, plus the rising cost of borrowing, and the story begins to sound all too familiar.
Like his 1970s namesake Denis Healey, the new man at No11 is coming back for more tax, and it will be hard-working families and businesses who pay the price.
It is increasingly clear these tax rises will not be used to support our cash-starved Armed Forces.
Despite resigning over Starmer and Reeves’s failure to properly fund defence, the Chancellor now seems to be raising the white flag.
Once again it will be Benefits Street taking precedence over Horse Guards Parade, despite the scandal that disability claims are rising faster in the UK than war-torn Ukraine. At a time when Argentina is making bogus claims over British sovereign territory in the Falklands, how can the Chancellor choose benefits for anxiety and other low-level mental health conditions over funding our Army, Air Force and Navy?
Conservatives understand the trade-off and are not afraid to say that welfare should be a safety net not a lifestyle choice.
That is why, on my third day in the job, I sat alongside James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, and Helen Whately, the shadow secretary for work and pensions, as our leader Kemi Badenoch unveiled the work we had done to find the money we need to fund defence to the tune of 3 per cent of GDP.
To Labour, these choices may be controversial. But, when you know whose side you are on, they are not. The Conservatives are unashamedly on the side of those who work hard, run a business, aspire to own their own home and put down roots in a community. We are equally unashamedly on the side of our Armed Forces.
If we can reform welfare and rewire the state, we will be able to cut bad taxes – such as Stamp Duty – scrap business rates for thousands of firms such as pubs, and fully fund our Armed Forces.
Healey faces tough choices as he prepares his first Budget. He should commit to no more tax rises. But I fear that, as Labour Chancellors always do, he will take the easy way out. And if he does, he risks becoming the second Chancellor called Healey to bankrupt Britain.
