‘A horror show that demonises the wealthy’: Top city banker’s scathing verdict on Rachel Reeves’ Budget plans as he accuses Government of pursuing a ‘socialist fantasy’

One of the country’s leading bankers warned today that the Budget is turning into a ‘financial horror show’ designed to ‘demonise’ the rich to realize Labour’s ‘socialist fantasy’.

Writing for the Daily Mail, City grandfather and philanthropist Ken Costa warned that ‘almost anyone with aspirations is not welcome in Rachel Reeves’s Britain’.

And he opposed his ‘policies of confiscation against the rich’, accusing the Chancellor of treating companies like ‘bottomless pools that can be exploited indefinitely’ for his lavish spending plans and expansion of the State.

The comments are the latest from a senior business leader ahead of next month’s Budget, which looks set to include another punitive tax rise on households and the private sector.

Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin last week called on Ms Reeves to ‘change course’ to escape ‘a cycle of economic disaster of ever-higher taxes and low growth’.

Opposing the ‘catastrophic’ £25bn increase in National Insurance announced in his first Budget, Mr Machin called on the Chancellor to ‘spend less, borrow less, tax less, regulate less, reduce inflation and enable growth’.

Mr Machin’s predecessor at M&S, Stuart Rose, recently warned that Labor was pushing Britain ‘to the brink of crisis’; Tesco boss Ken Murphy said ‘enough is enough’ about further tax increases.

Mr Costa, whose investment banking career included stints at SG Warburg and UBS before becoming chairman of Lazard International, said: ‘We’re only a month away from the budget and it’s still turning into a fiscal horror show.’

Mr Costa (pictured) said: ‘We’re still a month away from the budget and it’s still turning into a fiscal horror show.’

He said the increase in income tax would leave the Chancellor ‘with no choice but to resign’ given Labor’s vow in its manifesto not to do so.

The banker, who has donated to the Conservative Party in the past, said Ms Reeves was ‘unpopular with her party’s voters and therefore targeted groups she deemed politically dispensable’.

Mr Costa highlighted speculation of tax increases on professionals such as lawyers and GPs, as well as those in the financial sector, which he said risked dragging them ‘into the welcoming arms of other European countries or Gulf states’.

He added: ‘These professions join the ranks of business investors, tech entrepreneurs and pretty much everyone else who feels unwelcome in Rachel Reeves’s Britain.

‘The devastating effects are seen everywhere.

‘It takes a lot of effort to start and grow a business, but unfortunately those who do it do not fit the Chancellor’s definition of socialist working people.

‘For him, wealth creators are nothing more than mythical broad shoulders that he believes can bear an even greater share of the financial burden.

‘He still wants his crushing of the rich to be part of the Budget story. A horror story.

‘To demonize wealth is to demonize those who create wealth, and to go after them is to go after business.

‘In his socialist fantasy, only the public sector can create jobs and enrich the country.’