I’m £15k worse off thanks to Rachel Reeves’ horror Halloween Budget… real Brits give verdict on Chancellor’s statement

BUSINESS owners, families and working Brits have given their verdict on Rachel Reeves’ £40billion tax bomb budget.

The Chancellor today used the first Labour Budget in almost 15 years to hike National Insurance contributions from businesses by 1.2 per cent – in a £25bn raid on firms

Conrad Pearson, 52, from Hereford[/caption]

PM Sir Keir Starmer’s dad was a toolmaker who ran his own firm.

But after today’s Budget, Conrad Pearson was left considering the future of his toolmaking business after 25 years of trading.

Conrad and his son Sam currently employ five workers, including one on minimum wage at their company Pearson Precision Toolmakers, which supplies the motor industry.

The increase in the minimum wage and business National Insurance contributions means he will have to lose one of his five staff at his 25-year-old company based in Hereford.

And he says it’s a kick in the teeth for the toolmaking industry where Keir Starmer says his father worked.

Conrad told The Sun: “If his father was a toolmaker he would know the effort and commitment she put in.

“It’s an absolute joke.

“The increase to the minimum wage means I will have to put all the wages up across the board.

“As soon as this was announced one of my lads said I’d have to pay him more, otherwise unskilled and less experienced staff would be catching him up.

“I will have to look at it but my idea is to invest in more computerised automation which can run through the night so I can lose someone.

“By doing that I will save on a wage and on my National Insurance contributions.”

The father-of-two said he knew it was coming and was prepared for the hit from Day One of Labour taking over.

He said: “I bought some land next to our factory with the idea of expanding but I don’t know if I’m going to do that now.

“We are a family business, my son and daughter both work here and like any father I want it to be theirs one day.

“But the increase in inheritance tax is making me think about the future for all of us.

“I feel very let down and betrayed by Labour who have broken so many of their election promises.

“Small businesses are going to suffer – there’s nothing for us at all in this Budget.

“The Chancellor has given 40 per cent business rate relief to the retail and leisure sector but what about us?

“Why weren’t we included?

“It is British manufacturing that’s going to create wealth in this country, not people selling ice cream and burgers.”

Conrad was thinking about taking on an apprentice but he is abandoning the idea.

He said: “There was no help in the budget for small businesses taking on apprentices but after the changes to NI and the minimum wage I’m left thinking: ‘Do I really need one?’”

Conrad is a non-smoker and only an occasional drinker but the lads on his factory floor will be hit by duty increases.

He said: “They’re all smokers, drinkers and vapers, so whatever increases they have in their wage packets will get swallowed up by that.”

Family: Nigel Owen, 47, and wife Marianne, 49, Surrey

£1,464 BETTER OFF

Darren Fletcher

Nigel Owen, 47, and wife Marianne, 49, from Surrey[/caption]

Nigel Owen, 47, works in banking, while his wife, Marianne, 49, is in recruitment.

Jointly they earn £180,000 a year.

The couple live with Marianne’s 17-year-old son in East Molesey, Surrey, where they have a £3,000-a-month mortgage.

They pay £250 a month to charge their Tesla electric car.

Nigel says: “I thought this government would be centrist, but I think it’s perhaps the most left-wing budget we’ve seen in decades.”

On the Chancellor’s £22bn NHS investment, he adds: “I want to believe that spending brings good things, but far too often, throwing money at things like the NHS and HS2, doesn’t seem to be the answer.

“We need people really looking at the NHS. When you need treatment on the NHS, it’s excellent. My mother had breast cancer and she received incredible care.

“It’s not the people on the front line that are the problem – they should be paid more money.

“It’s the layers of management between them and the people at the top that slow the change and the updating of the whole system that is the problem.

“Sorry to be cynical, but I don’t think the extra money being thrown at the NHS will bring radical reforms.

“In the Budget, Labour seems to have drawn a line in the sand, ‘we’re a tax and spend government’.

“They said they’re not going to tax working people, but they are piling the cost onto the companies who employ these working people.

“Hopefully they won’t be letting people go, because it all ends up on the bottom line.”

“This country’s growth could be really boosted by some of the fabulous entrepreneurs who don’t necessarily become the next Zuckerberg or Musk but who will run successful businesses employing 10s or 100s of people, which all add up to vital jobs for the economy.”

On the penny off the cost of a pint in the pub, Nigel says: “So it sounds good for a landlord, but it’s nothing compared to the increased minimum wage and NI costs they’ll have to pay out.

“Younger people have seen a double-digit increase and are now on £10 an hour.”

NHS Worker: Olaniyi Alabi, 46, and wife Jumoke, 40

£648 BETTER OFF

John McLellan

NHS employee Olaniyi Alabi, 46, and his support worker wife, Jumoke, 40, live in a housing association home with their eight-year-old daughter, Oyindamola.

Olaniyi – a £28,000-a-year full-time hospital co-ordinator at Kings College Hospital, London – and his wife have seen their rent rise by over £200 a month to £1,414.

But they pay £300 a month for petrol so Olaniyi who is disabled can drive to work and Jumoke forks out £200 a month on train fares from her 23,000 a year salary.

Jumoko earns the Living Wage, which goes up by 6.7 per cent, which will bring in an extra £1,400 for full-time workers.

Olaniyi, says: “I don’t think it will make a lot of difference. We have a lot of loans to pay so this is a patch-up job.

“The fuel duty freeze will help us though as I was expecting that to go up.”

On the NHS investment, Olaniyi says: “As both a disabled person and an NHS worker, the increase in the budget will help with the waiting times. I’ve been waiting for an operation for over a year now.

“Maybe with the increase in budget, that might speed up surgeries – fingers crossed.

He adds: “Our rent has been increased by nearly £220 per month. I’m amazed a housing association can charge us this much.

“But our salary hasn’t gone up, so it’s just getting harder. We have to find somewhere to plug the hole. We may have to cut the food expenses again.”

“I hope the government really do build more houses to reduce the demand and keep rents down.”

Carers: Dan Scarfe, 36, and his wife Emma, 33, Ipswich

£1,326 BETTER OFF

John McLellan

Dan Scarfe, 36, and his wife Emma, 33, from Ipswich[/caption]

Dan Scarfe, 36, and wife Emma, 33, both work in care homes.

Emma is on the National Living Wage – earning £19,500, which is going up by six per cent – three times the rate of inflation thanks to Rachel Reeves’ Budget.

Dan does the night shift and earns £14,500. His company’s pay rates are linked to the Living Wage.

The couple from Ipswich, Suffolk, do the shifts so they can look after their two young sons, Oliver, six and Luke, four.

On the minimum wage increase, Dan says: “My company always sits above the line of minimum wage, so they pay a bit above it. I hope this rise means they’ll continue to stay above it and our wages go up too.

“I think ours will go up, it’s normally around an extra 50p per hour for us.

“It’s good. With the costs of everything else going up, we need to have wages increased, otherwise, it’s going to get harder.

“It looks like Emma’s salary will going to go up as well. We could be up £3,000 per year, across both our salaries. That’s a marked improvement over what it was.

“That could go towards other things that are increasing, so all in all it might keep us at a status quo with the rising bills.

“I’m glad that National Insurance hasn’t been increased for us so that’s a positive.

“At some point it will go up, but the longer it stays as it is, then this will feel like an increase.

“It won’t mean an extra holiday, but it does mean we can continue to do our normal plans, so in that sense it is still a gain.”

On the fuel duty freeze, Dan says: “We only have the one car, but Emma has a decent drive to work. So it does make a difference filling up the car for a month.”

Mum-of-two: Megan Dancer and husband Dan, 34

£667 BETTER OFF

Chris Balcombe

Megan Dancer and husband Dan with Harley and Louie[/caption]

MUM-of-two Megan Dancer is on maternity leave after having baby Harley, now four months old.

She and husband Dan, 34, a £28,000 a year machine operator, also have another son Louie, two.

Megan, who earns £23,290, a health outreach worker says: “Dan goes to Bristol every fortnight so fuel duty not going up by 7p a litre will make things a bit cheaper for us.”

“NHS investment sounds good, but what will it actually mean for us? We need is more beds. Our hospital’s beds are cut every year.

“We haven’t really been impacted much by the Budget but we’re due to renegotiate our mortgage in January.

“This Budget might mean interest rates come down more slowly which would be terrible for us. We need rates to come down fast.”

Pensioner: Ann Boucher, 79

£273 BETTER OFF

Neil Hope

Ann Boucher, 79, receives the smaller old state pension of £553 a month[/caption]

WIDOW Ann Boucher, 79, retired in 2012 and receives the smaller old state pension of £553 a month after tax.

As a former BT worker, she receives £109 a month pension from the telecoms giant and £1,403 a month from her late husband’s employer Royal Mail.

Ann has energy bills of £204 a month but missed out on the £300 annual Winter Fuel Allowance.

The mum-of-five says: “The Winter Fuel Allowance has been a big thing. If we get a harsh winter it will be tough for people.

Ann is delighted The Sun persuaded the Chancellor to keep fuel duty frozen for a year.

She says: “The triple lock was also a good thing but the amount Labour are borrowing is absolutely massive. It worries me that we are leaving a debt to our children and grandchildren.”

Pub Landlady: Ruth, 55, and husband Andrew Seggie

£14,653 WORSE OFF

Supplied

Ruth and Andrew Seggie’s National Insurance contribution will rise by 1.2 per cent[/caption]

LANDLADY Ruth and husband Andrew Seggie own and run a pub which employs 22 staff.

Their employers’ National Insurance contribution will rise by 1.2 per cent.

They will also have to pay her younger waiting staff, who are on the Living Wage, an extra 6.7 per cent – and give pay rises to their skilled staff.

Ruth, 55, says: “It’s just like silly money. We’re just seeing our profits shrink. It seems that the more we make, the more we get hammered for corporation tax, personal tax, VAT, National Insurance, everything.”

The 75 per cent rates reduction will drop to 40 per cent costing another £7,000.

She says: “I’m going to have to put the price of beer up to give my staff a 6.7 per cent rise in wages and cover extra National Insurance payments.

“I bet by next April many businesses will have shut down.”

Mum on benefits: Lyndsey Tate

£191 BETTER OFF

Glen Minikin

Lyndsey Tate, mum to Georgia, receives £1,600 a month Employment Support Allowance and PIP[/caption]

LYNDSEY Tate, mum to Georgia, 12, suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, anxiety and PTSD.

She receives £1,600 a month Employment Support Allowance and PIP.

The Department of Work and Pensions took her PIP away but reinstated it on appeal and she now gets an extra £1.25 a week

She says: “It all adds up doesn’t it?

“I’m going on the forced migration to Universal Credit. They’re reducing the amount they can take off you, for debt and overpayments, from 50per cent to 25per cent.

“They’re also extending the household support scheme, so when my council finally gets round to giving it out, that will be a bonus.”

Lyndsey spends £50 a month on cigs, which went up by 2per cent above inflation.

She says: “It doesn’t matter how expensive it is, we will always have to find a way to pay for it.”