Tax-raising Budget delivers a blow to working families and small businesses in Cardiff and Penarth

A raft of tax rises announced in yesterday’s Budget will hit working people, pensioners and savers, with serious implications for local families and employers, warned Calum Davies, the lead Welsh Conservative Senedd candidate for Cardiff West, South, and Penarth.

The Budget introduces £26 billion in new taxes, extends the freeze on tax thresholds, and raises the tax burden on employers.

More working people on modest incomes will be pulled into higher tax bands as income tax thresholds remain frozen for another three years.

Pension savers face new taxes on salary-sacrifice contributions, and employers have warned that the new measures will make it harder to take on staff.

Davies - who is also a Cardiff Councillor for Radyr & Morganstown - said:

"I am absolutely appalled by this Budget that is taxing working people to pay more and more tax so people who are not in work can get more money. It is totally unjust and only just goes to show that a Labour Chancellor always comes back for more, no matter what they promise.

“This Budget is a tax raid on working families in Cardiff and Penarth. Freezing tax thresholds will drag thousands more people into higher rates of tax. People here are already struggling with the cost of living, and this Budget makes life harder, not easier.

“Meanwhile, Rachel Thieves has chosen to tax pension contributions and retirement savings, despite clear evidence that Britain already saves too little. She is punishing people who do the right thing.

“Wales needs growth, investment and good jobs. Yet this Budget increases the taxes businesses pay when they employ someone. That is the last thing our local firms need, and it will make employers more cautious about taking people on — especially the young and those looking for a first job.”

He added:

“It is really important that in next year's Senedd election, people in Cardiff and Penarth know they do not have to settle for more from Labour. They're just as wasteful with public money in Cardiff Bay as Labour, and their mates in Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems, fritter away £120m on expanding the number of politicians."

ENDS

Notes to Editors: Please see image of Calum Davies to use alongside this story attached.