LABOUR has been blasted after 160,415 businesses closed in six months under the full weight of National Insurance hikes and extra red tape.
And business creation is at one of the lowest levels in a decade.
A staggering 160,415 businesses closed in six months under Labour Credit: In Pictures via Getty Images
Ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s £25billion tax grab put businesses under pressure Credit: Getty
Ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s £25billion tax grab made it more expensive to hire staff, while boosts to workers’ rights and the minimum wage were also said to have been factors.
Business openings in the first six months of the year stood at 157,980 — lower than during Covid, and at anytime since the first half of 2023.
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Straight after the pandemic, the figure peaked at 193,245.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride told The Jattvibe: “Labour don’t understand business.
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“Their new regulations and higher taxes are destroying jobs and punishing the businesses that drive our economy.”
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said some entrepreneurs had fled the country and others were now thinking twice before making a move.
He added: “The drought of new businesses opening in Britain is every bit as barren as the dry weather.”
The Lib Dems analysed official figures to reveal the business crisis.
The party wants a new deal with Europe, claiming it would cut regulations.
Economic spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “Too many budding entrepreneurs will look at the Government’s crushing jobs tax and anti-growth agenda and be put off even trying to get their business off the ground.”
Britain’s economy shrank in April amid the Iran War, continuing to have an impact on energy prices in particulary. It grew by 0.1 per cent in May, according to the ONS.
