Healey says employers are working people as Reynolds faces Budget criticism

Chancellor John Healey rejected Treasury minister Emma Reynolds’s suggestion that employers are not “working people”, saying in Parliament that they are. His response came amid criticism over whether Labour’s Budget measures comply with its 2024 manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on working people.

Reynolds had made the distinction between employers and employees while defending a two-percentage-point rise in income tax on property and savings income. Healey said the Budget protects earned income and dividends reinvested in businesses, and gives firms “breathing space”; he also said 70,000 high street businesses would pay no business rates. Labour argues it has kept its pledge because it has not raised the headline rates of income tax, VAT or employee National Insurance.