One of Boris Johnson’s many memorable quips was when he is alleged to have said ‘f*** business’ at an event for EU diplomats during the height of the Brexit deliberations three years ago.
Asked in the Commons about his use of the expletive, the then foreign secretary wheedled his way out of the fuss by saying he may have ‘expressed scepticism about some of the views of those who profess to speak up for business’.
Whatever Johnson said – or indeed thought he said – is perhaps beside the point; the damage was done. Business leaders throughout the country took it as read that the first hearing was the correct one.
Every trade organisation in the land – from the small business bodies to big beasts like the CBI – have come out guns blazing against the Boris Johnson’s tax rises
After the latest tax hikes on national insurance and dividends, they are in no doubt that they got the right message.
Without exception, every trade organisation in the land – from the small business bodies to big beasts like the CBI – has come out all guns blazing against the prime minister’s tax rises, with dire warnings that they will harm economic recovery at such a fragile moment.
Even more remarkably, they all agree that this new burden is an additional tax on jobs, investment and capital because it hits the country’s wealth creators the most, thus hurting Britain’s growth prospects.
Yet, believe it or not, the business community and the country’s six million SMEs have become the Government’s new golden goose – to be plucked bare for tax.
How silly we were to imagine that Tory politicians might have come up with imaginative ways of stimulating growth – and a radical way of funding social care – rather than going for the easy and lazy tax option.
It really is the most extraordinary about-turn.
If you had landed overnight from Planet Zog and read the latest warnings that these tax hikes are a ‘kick in the teeth for investors’, will punish the ‘risk-takers’ and threaten ‘the City’s reputation as a good place to do business,’ you might have thought it was Jeremy Corbyn who had crept into No 10 via the Rose Garden.
As the Mail’s analysis shows, businesses will be paying most of the £37.4billion tax raid launched by the Government since the March Budget, taking Britain’s tax burden to historic highs.
Roughly, about 40 per cent of the £11.4billion tax raised from national insurance will be paid by employers. Add to this the £17.2billion corporation tax hike announced in the Budget, and £21.8billion comes from business. The rest will be paid by individuals.
It’s a remarkable amount of tax. The fear now is the knock-on impact on jobs.
It’s inevitable that employers will move quickly to contain costs by either shedding jobs or not investing in their businesses as they would otherwise have done.
More worrying is the effect this anti-growth sentiment will have on the motivation of those who do risk their own capital in start-ups and small businesses.
As the boss of a fast-growing engineering practice said to me, there will come a point when it is simply not worth him growing his business bigger.
Alternatively, he suggests that companies will start bartering services to avoid paying tax, like swapping designs for accountancy fees.
Is that what a Tory government wants ?
What will you bid?
After a summer of jiggery-pokery, it’s finally showtime at Morrisons. The supermarket chain’s board has opted for a rare auction process to decide its fate.
Morrisons will now invite the two private equity bidders – Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Fortress – to take part in an orderly auction overseen by the Takeover Panel.
Neither bidder has declared a final offer, so it’s a sensible way to close these tortuous negotiations.
Having the Morrisons name bandied around in the news can’t be good for staff morale, while the bids have taken up valuable management time.
Pre-profit of £240million for the half-year is due to be reported today, similar to the same time last year, and sound enough to prop up the shares.
The number to look for is growth in online sales which more than doubled in the last quarter.
Fill your boots
Investment bankers, lawyers, accountants and spin-doctors involved in Cobham’s bid for Ultra Electronics are being paid a whopping £137million in fees.
That’s £103million at Cobham and the balance at Ultra. Just imagine if these two companies had invested this money in their respective businesses instead.
