Labour has proved yet again that it hates employers/business.

[Batmanisaplaceinturkey]

Don't be surprised when your local pubs, restaurants, hairdressers etc close up shop.
Don't be surprised if your employer can't fund your next payrise, because their NI bill has increased. Workers will indirectly pay for these increases; employers don't have magic money trees.
I work for an employer that has charitable status. We work to improve the lives of others but now have to look at reducing headcount. Employers are not all fat cats driving Mercs.
BTW, I hate the Tories. This post does not make me a Tory before anyone starts that one.

And my employers are absolutely rolling in it... so can afford it easily!

Why can't they ever class businesses with different categories in order to help the ones that can't afford to pay and get money from those that can.

I'm a small business owner in our first year and I'm fine with the budget changes. Yeah, it will mean a smaller margin but I'd rather that if it means the money will be used to support our most vulnerable.

And with labour I have a bit more confidence that the money will be used to make change rather than lining a Tory mucker's pocket!

I mean, at the height of the Cold War Keir Starmer was the secretary and editor for a Trotskyite magazine, called Socialist Alternatives which was a full on communist magazine specifically linked to the International Revolutionary Marxist Tendency (IRMT). I it served as a platform for Marxist thought and was described as having a Trotskyist orientation. He was 24 when he did this, well and truly old enough to know better and to have his political beliefs well and truly planted.

He also spent a summer at a Czechoslovakian work camp aged 23. The Czechoslovakian secret police, known as the StB (Státní bezpečnost), used the camps to gather intelligence, monitor foreign participants and find people who might be of interest to the Communist party and they were particularly interested in profiling bright and ambitious young people from Western countries, with the hope that they could be useful in various capacities in the future.

I mean, he might just have gone to the communist work camp for a bit of jolly good fun and at the age of 24 was just hanging out editing a communist mag for shits and giggles, I suppose.

I'm always surprised anyone else is surprised when Starmer does what he does. He's not exactly been hiding it from anyone who cares to look.

Coming soon to a comment near you - Mumsnet hysteric claims being anti communist makes you a fascist far right POS and anyway the good old commies were all just great guys who wanted to share.

Of course they don't hate employers/business. What a stupid claim.

They had to raise taxes somehow, as the country is more in need of ramped up public spending than ever. They have made the best balancing act that they can, to help make it possible to protect the NHS and other areas where crisis spending is unavoidable. Hope to god it can pay off.

local pubs, restaurants, hairdressers

3 luxuries I could never afford

Did all the businesses wonder how all the people they employed actually afforded to live? I hope it will all work out in the long term but expect it will be difficult for a while.

Christ, what a totally fucking miserable existence.

Life in the UK, you will own nothing and be happy, you will do nothing and be happy.

Where would you have preferred the money come from? It either had to be income tax or this really to raise such a large amount.

It’s worrying for childcare. Lots of preschools and nurseries won’t be able to afford it as the gov funding they receive barely goes up each year.

I moved abroad, with my 2 science degrees including the 'university of bristol'

Their NI changes are likely to suppress wage increases for those just above minimum wage. It is very difficult for small business owners right now, having just got through a period of high energy costs, and now this.

What is your solution then? Pay workers less so the government have to keep topping up crap wages? Then come on here and moan that your taxes are all being spent on benefits?

But yes. It's depressing

So you moved abroad with two degrees and cannot afford hair cuts, pubs or restaurants? My sympathies.

Yep, when my staff come in this morning I will be telling them my business will close for good December 31st. Just can’t afford to keep going.

Have minimum wage workers not had higher energy, rent,mortgage and food costs?

Snap been years since I sat in a hairdressers. Normally just meet friends at home for drinks. Restaurants extremely rare to go to one as so expensive.

Not directed at you OP, but anyone who voted Labour and is surprised at the budget must have totally ignored all the warning signs, especially the fact that Starmer openly boasts that he's a socialist (albeit one that loves a freebie and mooching off his wealthy friends), and we all know where that ends. Plus the fact that not one of the cabinet have ever worked in industry or the private sector.

I'm so glad we're retiring next year. Running a small business that provides jobs has become a thankless task and a massive pain in the arse. If we were younger I think we'd throw the towel in. Why would anyone continue to take all the risks, deal with all the associated crap when the benefits are so paltry?

Ah no I can afford to not even work now. I'd like things to even out.

My pension gets paid etc, but I'm hoping to move back to the UK and teach.

This budget is another PR exercise. The general public will say “phew, at least he hasn’t put our income tax up”
Meanwhile, businesses will need to raise the extra they need to cover the additional NI contributions and how do you think they will do that? Do you think they will happily absorb it from their profits? Of course not. Look forward to the cost of living going up again.

I worked for a small business and it went under last year (under the conservatives) so I got made redundant. I'm still fine with the budget.

My current employers are a multi national company and can afford to pay more as they should.

There is no easy answer. If you don't raise wages, we will need to pay more for top up benefits. Which is better?

Sorry for the misunderstanding. No, I didn't. But I'd like to move back with my qualifications, my husbands too etc

So it's better that the business closes then?

We saw cost of living rises because energy prices increased.
We will now see cost of living rises because labour costs have increased

Oh you're ok, so it's all fine. Sod all the small businesses, who cares?