‘The Budget has made things even worse – I wouldn’t vote for Labour again’
P.eter Cripps voted Labor at the last general election because he was desperate to get rid of the Conservatives. But he wouldn’t vote for the party again, especially after the Chancellor’s “make or cut” budget on Wednesday.
the 76-year-old said as he sat outside his Car, Home and Garden store in Sheerness on Kent’s Sheepey Isle. Independent: “I’ve lived on the island for 50 years, this is the worst I’ve ever seen and this Budget will not reverse that.”
In her financial statement on Wednesday, Rachel Reeves announced a £26bn tax increase in a bid to plug gaps in the public finances. The Chancellor’s tax increases will be delivered through a range of other measures, including freezing thresholds, forcing millions of people to pay higher taxes and introducing a new “mansion tax” on properties worth more than £2 million and a new tax on homeowners.
He also announced that the government would remove the two-child benefit limit and increase the minimum wage in a bid to ease the pressure of the cost of living crisis.
Labor will need the Budget to be well received by undecided voters in places like Sheerness if the party is to turn around the opinion polls and have any chance of retaining power at the next general election.
The port city’s constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey was a Labor win at the last election; Kevin McKenna beat Conservative candidate Aisha Cuthbart by 355 votes, with Reform UK coming in third place.
Mr Cripps wanted change as he felt his town’s high street was declining and he hoped Labor would address the issue. But now he feels let down by the government and doesn’t trust it to grow the economy.
He explained: “They (Labour) came in and made it worse. I would definitely not vote for them again.”
When asked why, he said: “I think this country is in complete chaos. We need jobs, we need production. We used to have a steel mill on this island, our toilet factory is gone, we had docks. All of them are gone. We have no production. It will not change until we find work.”
While Mr Cripps liked some of the Budget’s measures (he was pleased that Ms Reeves had decided to remove the two-child benefit cap), he is concerned about the increase in the minimum wage. He said that’s something a business like his can’t afford to pay.
Similarly, Stanley Ward, 68, who runs the Kent Fresh Food butcher shop and is also a landlord with three properties, was unimpressed by the Budget.
“I’m worried about the homeowner’s tax because they’re going to take the money out,” he said Independent. “You don’t want to keep raising the rent because it’s not fair to the tenant.
“I have good tenants and I don’t want to upset them by increasing the tax. But I think it could backfire. I think a lot of landlords will sell because what they keep doing to us is so ridiculous.”
‘As a business owner, everything went well’
Like Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Ilford North is one of Labour’s narrowest marginal seats; The constituency has oscillated between Labor and the Conservatives since its formation in 1945.
Wes Streeting has been an MP since 2015 but the health minister survived the scare of retaining his seat at last year’s general election by beating independent candidate Leanne Mohamad by just 528 votes.
But one vote Mr Streeting cannot count on is Stephen Laycock, 64, who owns the Hi-Tide chip shop on the High Street in Barkingside and described the Budget as “dreadful”.
he said Independent: “I voted Conservative at the last election. I’ve never voted Labor and I never will. I don’t think they’re helping the people they’re supposed to be helping.”
He used his own business as an example, saying: “I wouldn’t classify myself as senior business-wise. We’re just a family business; we’ve been here for 54 years and we certainly won’t be here for another 54 years.”
“It’s not just the budget, I think everything is taxes, taxes, taxes, even though I think it’s disgusting.”
Like Mr Cripps, Mr Laycock is worried about how Ms Reeves will meet the increase in the minimum wage, which she has introduced to ensure “low-income earners are appropriately rewarded for their hard work”.
He said: “I can’t get by, nobody has money. National Insurance went up last time. As a business owner, everything went up.”
“We used to pay £74 for a tin of cod, now it’s £400. How am I going to make money from this? Without tax relief, nothing will happen. Potatoes should be £7 a bag but they’re bringing in £24. You can’t stomach that.”
About 20 miles away, in the London constituencies of Kensington and Bayswater, Ms Reeves’s mansion tax was a cause for concern. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a quarter of the properties affected by the tax are in just three London council boroughs; Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Camden.
Kensington and Bayswater is another parliamentary seat with a slim majority; The new constituency was won by Labour’s Joe Powell in 2024. Kensington resident Caroline was concerned about the tax and cited it as an example of Labour’s approach to the rich.
he said Independent: “Thank God my estate isn’t even worth half the £2 million. They’ve already kicked out most of the non-doms and anyone who’s rich, so I’m not so sure it’s wise to tax the rich more. They’ll just disappear.”
“It’s old-fashioned Labor stuff – just spend, spend, spend and tax.”
According to Helen, who lives in Kensington, the tax threshold is too low. He said: “£2 million won’t buy you much here. I’ve lived here for 40 years and prices have gone up but why would I move out? Because I can’t pay wealth tax.”
“I think we should get people back to work. Our young people are leaving in droves because there is no future for hard-working professionals.”
More cheerful about the budget were Richard and Jean Whitehead in Ilford North. Two retired Labor voters believe Sir Keir Starmer’s government should be given more time to turn the country’s fortunes around.
Jean said: “I think this budget will put some money into people’s pockets. The removal of the two-child benefit limit is really important for some and the increase in the minimum wage will be beneficial for a lot of people.”
“But on the other hand, for hospitality for example, if they have to pay the increased minimum wage, they may not be able to hire that person because they can’t afford it.”
Richard is concerned about the impact of freezing tax thresholds and the resulting fiscal drag but wants to wait and see how the policies set out in the Budget play out.
He said: “They can’t change course in a year. It will take at least two terms for things to start to change. First of all, it will be difficult and I don’t think anyone thinks it won’t happen.”
Sir Keir said on Thursday the Budget “asks everyone to contribute” to protecting public services and helping people struggling with the cost of living.
Regarding the tax burden, the prime minister argued that his government “did the least possible” to affect people and “did it fairly.”
Independent He applied to the Treasury for opinion.
