British inventor and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson has launched a blistering attack on Labour’s latest Budget, branding it “an egregious act of self-harm” that will stifle entrepreneurship, destroy family-owned businesses, and stunt economic growth.
In a letter to The Telegraph, the billionaire founder of Dyson accused the Government of treating businesses as “cash cows” while ignoring the vital role they play in driving the UK’s economic engine.
Dyson wrote:
“Why would anyone start a company in the UK? The hit delivered by Labour to business, and the destruction of British family-owned businesses especially, is an egregious act of self-harm.”
Staggering Blow to Entrepreneurs
Dyson criticised Labour’s sweeping tax changes, including National Insurance increases, inheritance tax hikes, and the removal of business property relief. He warned these measures would disproportionately harm British family businesses, forcing them to sell off significant portions of their assets to meet tax liabilities.
“As each generation dies, owners will have to sell nearly 40 per cent of their businesses… This tax is extracted only from British family companies, not private equity or public companies,” he explained.
Damaging Impacts Already Emerging
Citing recent statistics, Dyson highlighted that the number of directors closing their businesses had more than doubled year-on-year in the run-up to the Budget, reflecting a growing despair among UK entrepreneurs.
“Despairing business owners are throwing in the towel,” Dyson said, adding that the Budget’s punitive measures would “kill entrepreneurship” and “snuff out wealth creation.”
Labour’s Ideological Blindness
Dyson also took aim at Labour’s failure to understand the fundamental importance of the private sector in driving national growth.
“Business is viewed by Labour as a cash cow, but ministers fail to recognise that it is business and the private sector, not government and the public sector, which are the engines of the nation’s growth,” he wrote.
The entrepreneur, whose innovative technology company is headquartered in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, argued that the Government’s policies were ideologically driven and would ultimately harm ordinary workers through lower wages and fewer jobs.
A Call for Sanity in Business Policy
Dyson’s intervention has reignited concerns about the UK’s business climate under Labour. Critics argue that punitive tax measures risk driving entrepreneurs and investment out of the country, further exacerbating the UK’s already sluggish economic growth.
As one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, Dyson’s condemnation will likely fuel growing opposition to Labour’s Budget, particularly among entrepreneurs and family business owners who feel increasingly alienated by the Government’s policies.
The question now facing Labour is whether they will acknowledge the damaging consequences of their economic approach or double down on their ideologically driven agenda. For many, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
James Dyson’s full letter to the Telegraph is as follows:
SIR,
Why would anyone start a company in the UK? The hit delivered by Labour to business, and the destruction of British family-owned businesses especially, is an egregious act of self-harm.
No wonder that in the run-up to the Budget, the number of directors closing their businesses more than doubled year-on-year. Despairing business owners are throwing in the towel. Andrew Barclay (Business, December 3) is right to call out the CBI’s response as defeatist.
In accepting the principle that business should be paying more tax, the CBI has conveniently forgotten the incremental tax rises that businesses have had to endure over recent years, including Rishi Sunak’s 40 per cent corporation tax increase. Business is viewed by Labour as a cash cow but ministers fail to recognise that it is business and the private sector, not government and the public sector, which are the engines of the nation’s growth.
Scrapping business property relief will be even more damaging than the attack on family farms. As each generation dies, owners will have to sell nearly 40 per cent of their businesses – double the rate announced – in order to generate the ‘after tax’ cash needed for the death tax. This tax is extracted only from British family companies, not private equity or public companies.
Labour’s National Insurance increases, and the imposition of impossible-to-pay inheritance tax for privately owned businesses, will kill entrepreneurship, snuff out wealth creation and stunt growth. It will be the Exchequer and ordinary working people – through their jobs and their wages – and who will pay the price for the Chancellor’s ideologically driven attack on family businesses.
Sir James Dyson Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
