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Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin has urged Chancellor John Healey to reverse measures from Labour’s previous two Budgets, arguing that taxes and regulation are weighing on businesses and growth. His intervention comes ahead of a Budget scheduled for October 28, amid concerns about borrowing costs and competing calls from business leaders. The government’s response and any proposed policy changes are not included in the source report.
Marks & Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin has urged Chancellor John Healey to reverse measures from Labour’s previous two Budgets, arguing that taxes and regulation are holding back business and economic growth. The intervention, published in the Daily Mail ahead of a Budget scheduled for October 28, adds to pressure on the government to address employers’ costs while managing public finances.
Machin said the earlier Budgets had been a “disaster” and a “crushing disappointment” for customers, employees and businesses. He called on Healey to “restore hope” in industry and said growth required “taking the handcuffs off business and putting money back in people’s pockets.” Those are Machin’s assessments and proposals; the report does not present them as government findings or settled economic conclusions.
He singled out the rise in employer National Insurance contributions, changes to employment rights, new recycling rules, a packaging tax and the business rates system. The report says the employer National Insurance rate rose from 13.8% to 15%, while the threshold at which the charge applies fell from £9,100 to £5,000. It attributes an estimated £25 billion cost to businesses to those changes, but does not give the calculation period or further detail on how the estimate was produced.
Other business figures cited by the report also pressed for changes. John Lewis chair Jason Tarry called for a commitment that high-street shops would not face higher taxes, while advertising executive Martin Sorrell argued for growth policies rather than statements about growth. The article also reports that former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane had criticised the government’s economic approach the previous month.
Business Costs Meet Budget Pressure
The dispute is about how the government can seek growth and employment while raising revenue and maintaining its fiscal commitments. For retailers such as M&S, employer taxes and operating costs can affect hiring, prices and decisions about store investment. Machin argues that the measures he criticised have contributed to higher business costs and, in turn, higher prices; the source does not quantify that effect for M&S or establish a direct causal estimate across the economy.
The timing makes the intervention relevant beyond one company. Healey’s Budget is due as the report describes government borrowing costs as elevated and cites a warning from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey about the need to keep public finances on a credible path. That creates a difficult policy trade-off: business leaders are asking for lower costs and more support for job creation, while fiscal pressures may constrain the Chancellor’s choices.
For workers and consumers, the outcome could matter through hiring, wages, prices and the future of high-street businesses. Those are potential effects, not confirmed outcomes of the Budget. The report does not set out government plans or identify which, if any, of the measures Machin wants reversed are under active review.
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The Measures Behind Machin’s Appeal
The report links Machin’s intervention to changes announced in Rachel Reeves’s first Budget. It says that Budget increased the employer National Insurance rate and lowered the threshold at which it applies, changes that the article says added costs for businesses. Machin’s argument is that labour-intensive retailers are particularly exposed because many of their roles are entry-level or part-time.
Machin also raised concerns about employment protections, recycling requirements, packaging charges and business rates. The source describes the proposed rules and costs from the perspective of business leaders, but gives limited detail about the rules’ scope, implementation dates or the evidence behind each criticism. It does not establish that every measure has affected M&S in the same way.
The article places the appeal amid wider criticism from business figures, including Sorrell and Tarry, and reports that the Budget is scheduled for October 28. It also says government borrowing costs had reached a 28-year high that week and were above those of other G7 countries, attributing concern about the fiscal outlook to market conditions. These details frame the choices facing Healey, but the report offers no independent analysis of the causes of borrowing costs or the policy alternatives.
“Britain needed a plan for growth and got a pile of new taxes and regulations instead.”
— Stuart Machin, M&S chief executive, writing in the Daily Mail
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Policy Changes Remain Unspecified
The report does not say whether Healey or the government plans to change employer National Insurance, business rates, packaging taxes, recycling rules or employment protections. It also does not include a response from the Chancellor or an official assessment of Machin’s claims about the effects on prices, recruitment and jobs.
The reported £25 billion cost attributed to the National Insurance changes is not accompanied by a stated time period or methodology. The source also gives no quantified estimate of how much reversing the measures would cost the public finances, how any lost revenue might be replaced, or how the changes would affect workers and consumers. Those questions remain open ahead of the Budget.
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October Budget Sets the Next Test
The next major development is the Budget scheduled for October 28. Healey’s announcements will show whether the government intends to respond to the business leaders’ calls, how it plans to support growth and jobs, and how any policy changes would fit with its fiscal commitments.
Until the Budget is published, Machin’s proposals remain a public appeal rather than announced government policy. The report does not identify further meetings, consultations or decisions on the measures he named. Readers will be able to judge the response against both the detailed Budget announcements and any subsequent evidence on business costs, employment and public borrowing.
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Key Questions
What is Stuart Machin asking the Chancellor to do?
Machin is asking John Healey to reverse measures from Labour’s previous two Budgets that he says have increased costs for businesses. He cited employer National Insurance, employment rights, recycling rules, packaging taxes and business rates.
When is the Budget due?
The report says the Budget is scheduled for October 28. It does not provide a year in the quoted material.
What changes to employer National Insurance does the report describe?
It says the rate increased from 13.8% to 15% and the threshold fell from £9,100 to £5,000. The article attributes an estimated £25 billion cost to businesses to the changes but does not state the estimate’s time period or methodology.
Has the government agreed to reverse the measures?
The source does not report any government commitment to reverse them, and it contains no response from Healey. The outcome remains unclear until the government sets out its plans.
Source: rss
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