Labour is taking an axe to the backbone of Britain’s economy—the very entrepreneurs and small businesses that keep this country afloat.
Thousands of solvent UK businesses are being wound up as entrepreneurs brace themselves for the fiscal bludgeoning awaiting them in Rachel Reeves’s upcoming budget.
These closures are not the mark of failing enterprises but of prudent owners escaping Labour’s tax trap before it’s too late.
Look at the numbers: more than 1,600 voluntary liquidations already this month, double the total for October last year. And why? Because business owners are desperate to avoid Labour’s tax grab, with Reeves reportedly eyeing an end to Business Asset Disposal Relief, which currently offers entrepreneurs a 10% tax rate on profits when they sell or wind down their companies. Under Labour’s plan, that rate could double, hitting entrepreneurs with the same 20% rate as higher-rate taxpayers—a brutal blow to the people who risk their own capital, time, and energy to drive our economy forward.
Let’s not mince words—Labour’s tax policy is economic sabotage. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the very foundation of Britain’s prosperity, employing some 16.3 million people across the country, generating around 50% of the nation’s GDP, and contributing significantly to the Treasury’s coffers. Yet, Labour appears all too willing to turn off this financial tap, preferring instead to squeeze the people who create jobs and wealth. Who, in their right mind, would want to start a business in this climate? Between the escalating financial burden, endless red tape, and constant fear of yet another levy, in just a few months Labour has made entrepreneurship in Britain a liability.
And what of Labour’s so-called economic acumen? Remember when Keir Starmer was quick to accuse Liz Truss of “crashing the economy,” pointing to the spike in 10-year gilt yields above 4% after her mini-budget as evidence? But here we are, with 10-year gilt yields now trading at 4.25% under Labour’s watch, and 30-year yields soaring even higher than after Truss’s budget. By Starmer’s own logic, has Reeves already “crashed the economy”? The hypocrisy is glaring.
By Starmer’s own logic, has Reeves already “crashed the economy”? The hypocrisy is glaring.
But this is hardly the first time Reeves has been caught out. This is, after all, the same Chancellor who once had her parliamentary credit card confiscated, was caught plagiarising, fibbed about being a chess champion, padded her CV, and allegedly fabricated a £22 billion “black hole” to justify more punitive taxes. And now, under her watch, yields are climbing as market confidence wavers. It’s a damning indictment of Labour’s competence, or rather, the startling lack thereof.
The signs are clear, folks. Labour’s policies are driving Britain’s entrepreneurs to the exits, stifling innovation and investment at a time when we desperately need both. The number of liquidators appointed surged by an eye-watering 238% in just one week this month. Entrepreneurs are liquidating now rather than subjecting themselves to Labour’s tax assault later.
Labour once claimed to stand for “working people,” yet now they can’t even define them and they are doing everything in their power to kill the spirit of enterprise, which has long been the backbone of this country.
Entrepreneurs are the real working people—those who toil day and night to create jobs, grow the economy, risk their own money and houses to generate tax revenue and keep the Treasury’s coffers full.
Labour’s obsession with tax hikes and handouts blatantly ignores this truth, having morphed into a party that punishes ambition and treats success as a moral failing.
So here we are, forced to watch our entrepreneurs quietly close up shop, taking their dreams and drive elsewhere. It’s the slow strangling of aspiration, an erosion of the very values that built this country. If Labour doesn’t wake up to the damage it’s inflicting, they’ll soon find themselves running a nation with no dreamers left—and no one left to pick up the tab.
Claire Bullivant, Editor
Claire is the founder and editor of the Conservative Post and was a co-founder of the Conservative Democratic Organisation. Claire is now setting up www.GreatBritishPAC.com. Pre-register today.
