Here are my some of my thoughts.
Whilst the increases to the minimum wage are to be welcomed they do not go far enough especially when we are in the throes of a cost of living crisis.
I would suggest a minimum flat rate of £15 per hour to apply to ALL individuals irrespective of age cohort or employment status.
Trade bodies such as the CBI bleat that their members simply cannot afford it. However, as far as I’m concerned, if a company is not willing to give a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work then they don’t deserve to be in business.
Rather than freezing the personal tax free allowances (which will ultimately see more low earners paying more basic rate tax) I would have raised these revenues by increasing both the higher and additional rates of taxation.
Alongside this, I would have also increased the rates of both corporation tax and capital gains tax.
This would then ensure that these measures were being borne by those who truly have the broadest shoulders and are best placed to pay for it.
I would have also liked to have seen the introduction of a windfall tax to be levied on the obscene profits of a greedy banking sector.
Also, I would have liked to have seen a new “super rich” tax to be levied on all millionaires including Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.
