A top business group has urged Chancellor John Healey to scrap the triple lock to repair the nation’s public finances.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has said Mr Healey must abandon the state pension pledge in order to save billions.
The Chancellor is set to unveil a £150million fund for fast-growing northern firms as he sets out plans to grow the economy through an “active” state.
However, the BCC has gone further, calling for the triple lock to be scrapped, using the savings to help tackle the youth worklessness crisis that is blighting the economy.
BCC Director General Shevaun Haviland admitted Mr Healey was “in a fiscal bind” going into his first budget but warned further tax rises would be self-defeating.
She told The Telegraph: “The Chancellor must use his first budget to cut the cost of doing business, allowing everyone to reap the economic benefits.
“Piling more taxes on firms would be a road to ruin and the quickest way to destroy business confidence.”
The BCC said abandoning the triple lock and raising the state pension by inflation each year could save the Exchequer £3.3billion over two years, urging Mr Healey to use the savings to cut employers’ National Insurance Contributions for 21 to 24-year-olds.
Labour is coming under further pressure from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), who said the lock will have cost £15.5billion a year by the end of the decade, three times more than expected in the early 2010s.
Former OBR boss Richard Hughes has warned the triple lock and other age-related spending pressures mean the “UK public finances are in an unsustainable position”.
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Home Office whistleblower exposes ‘massive fraud’ as he claims just ONE PER CENT of asylum seekers are genuine
A Home Office whistleblower has claimed just one per cent of asylum seekers are genuine as he alleged “massive fraud” is taking place within Britain’s asylum system.
The official, known only as “J” to protect his identity, has spent years working as a Home Office decision-maker and has assessed thousands of asylum applications.
Speaking to The Times, he said: “At best one per cent of asylum seekers are genuine. There’s almost no aspect of the asylum system that isn’t either a massive fraud or just really dysfunctional. Nothing works as it should.”
J claimed officials regularly encounter what staff have dubbed “package claims”, where asylum seekers allegedly submit strikingly similar accounts to support their applications.
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Andrew Griffith says John Healey’s speech will do ‘little to comfort’
Andrew Griffith has blasted John Healey ahead of today’s economy speech in the West Midlands.
The Shadow Chancellor said: “It will do little to comfort hard-working families and businesses across the country who are worried about more tax rises or the fact that government borrowing rates are near a 28-year high.
“Commitments to reduce red tape are welcome but given this Government’s track record with its Employment Rights Act and other anti-business measures, people will rightly question their sincerity.
“We are facing serious threats from Russia and Iran on our doorstep, as well as threats to the Falkland Islands.
“Yet the Chancellor, the man who resigned over defence spending, seemingly does not want to mention our Armed Forces or how we will reach three per cent of GDP on defence.”
Robert Jenrick blasts John Healey as an ’empty vessel’
Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick slams John Healey as an “empty vessel” ahead of his speech later today.
The party’s treasury spokesman said: “Even Rachel Reeves had more vision than this guff.
“Days after a market meltdown, when grip and direction are required, John Healey has revealed himself to be an empty vessel with no idea about how to rescue our economy.
“He won’t cut the ballooning benefits bill, foreign aid, or net zero subsidies so taxes on working people will inevitably rise at the budget.
“Reform is the only party that will cut wasteful spending so we can raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 in our first budget.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper accused the Chancellor of undermining his growth ambitions by ignoring the Brexit trade barriers choking our exporters” .
She continued: “Re-announcing £150million across the entire North of England will barely shift the dial on growth.
“Liberal Democrats are demanding that Labour move faster to strike a Growth and Defence Deal that will make the UK stronger and more prosperous.”
John Healey to tell ‘optimistic story’ in speech later today
John Healey will seek to tell an “optimistic story” about Britain in a major speech on Monday, echoing Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s push to strike a more upbeat note than his predecessor.
The Chancellor ill detail plans to spread growth more widely across the UK by using public investment to attract private capital.
The British Business Bank will commit up to £150million to a new fund “to get behind the most innovative and fast-growing firms”, Mr Healey will say.
The pot, using money already allocated to the Government-owned bank, will offer investments of between £5million and £15million to help university spin-outs and other innovative companies across the North of England expand.
The Treasury hopes the fund will draw in additional private cash, as part of Mr Healey’s vision of an “active state” working with private businesses to create opportunity.
Mr Healey will also task the British Business Bank and National Wealth Fund with doing more to support investment and innovation across the UK.
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