Taxes, Farms, and Scandals: The North West reacts to the Labour budget

ITV News' Lise McNally got the reaction of those affected by the budget.

As the dust settles on the first Labour budget in almost 15 years, those affected by its announcements have shared their reaction, hopes, and worries for the future.

The government hopes the historic Budget - Labour's first since 2010 and the first delivered by a female chancellor - will convince the public that it can "rebuild Britain" and restore its creaking public services, with pledges to "invest, invest, invest".

The plans included support for those on low incomes with a rise in the minimum wage, as well as a £22.6 billion increase in the day-to-day NHS health budget.

The Government also doubled down on their promise to provide compensation to victims of the infected blood scandal.

However, these historic policies came with increases to national insurance employer contributions as well as cuts to agricultural property relief, which will make farmland subject to inheritance tax when it is passed from one generation to another.

As people in the North West come to terms with what Labour's budget means for them, we spoke to those affected by Rachel Reeves' decisions.

Taxes

Rachel Reeves announced an increase to national insurance employer contributions by 1.2 percentage points to 15%, which will come into effect from April 2025.

She also lowered the Secondary Threshold, the level at which employers start paying national insurance on each employee’s salary, from £9,100 per year down to £5,000.

"I know that this is a difficult choice. I do not take this decision lightly," she said, pointing out that this will raise a huge £25 billion per year.

Watching the announcement was Martin Taylor, the owner and Director of Sandbar Seafood Shack, a restaurant in Chester Market.

He said: "As a businessperson it's hard to be optimistic, especially after the last few years we've had to endure."

Martin says that business was already tight before the budget, and now an increase in prices is inevitable.

He says: "Ultimately we're going to have to put prices up across the board. There's many businesses here and we're all working on almost identical business models. We're all in agreement that sell prices will have to go up to pay for that overhead."

While Martin was pleased to see the money would go towards further healthcare funding, but worries smaller businesses are paying the price.

He said: "My partner works in the NHS and it really needs that money. I do feel that it could have been tiered so large businesses are paying this rise, and then smaller business could stay on the flat rate so we can expand and reach those heights."

Despite his worries, Martin does hope that the rise in wages will mean his customers can afford the increased prices.

He said: "We just hope those families that are better off now have that disposable income to spend."

Farms

One of the most unexpected announcements from Rachel Reeves' budget was the cuts to agricultural property relief. Under the new rules, farming families will be able to pass up to £1m worth without any tax, but after that 50% of the remaining value will be eligible for taxation.

The Chancellor said that the £1 million band would help protect small farms.

However, farmers say the threshold is unlikely to be enough to protect even the smallest of farms, meaning that practically all farmers can now expect to be subject to inheritance tax (IHT) on their deaths.

This opinion was shared by David Hall, who has been in charge of Cherry Clough Farm in Oldham since his father died when David was 16.

He said: "I've been farming all my life. I've lived here all my life. We farm just over 150 sheep and I just really enjoy it."

Now that he has his own children, David worries what the changes means for them.

He said: "I want to allow my children to do what I do if they want to follow in my footsteps but this will put a significant burden on any opportunities to pass the farm on.

"The farming community feels really let down by the Government."

David now hopes the Government will work with farmers to make a policy that better support independent farms.

He said: "There is real concern in terms of the limit being put on the tax relief on land. We need to work with the Government to make the scheme more realistic, because right now it doesn't feel fit for purpose."

David feels confident the new rules will be changed to better suit family farms, either by this Government or the next one.

Until then, David has no plans to retire or pass on the farm any time soon.

He said: "I hope I'm not going anywhere... So who knows what future Governments will do."

Compensation

The infected blood scandal has previously been labelled the "worst treatment disaster in the NHS", causing the deaths of around 3,000 people.

Between 1970 and 1991 it's thought up to 30,000 people were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after they were treated with contaminated blood often bought from the US.

A public inquiry described the scale of the scandal as "horrifying", and accused doctors, the government and NHS of repeatedly failing patients.

It recommended compensation be paid to victims and their families, something which both the previous Conservative and current Labour Governments committed to.

In the budget, Rachel Reeves announced that victims of the infected blood and Horizon scandals will receive compensation in full, with £11.8 billion for all "infected and affected" by contaminated blood, alongside £1.8 billion for victims of the Post Office scandal.

The news was relief for Gareth Mossman, who's father spent his life fighting for justice for the victims of the infected blood scandal.

Peter Mossman, from Altrincham, was being treated for the blood condition haemophilia, when he was infected while in his 40s.

He died in 2021, aged 78, after spending decades demanding justice for victims affected by the infected blood scandal.

Since then, his son Gareth has taken up the fight.

Gareth said: "There's mixed emotions with it. First of all, it's brilliant they've committed t compensation and committed to a figure. That's really positive and we've got to be happy about that.

"I am a bit confused by the exact figure of £11.8 billion. How can they put such an exact figure on it?"

The average package is expected to be around £100,000 but some are set to receive much more.

Gareth said: "You always have the scepticism. There's always those little bit of nerves, but you've got to be happy to see it in the budget."

While he's glad compensation will finally be delivered to the victims of the scandal, Gareth says many will carry on the fight for justice.

He said: "If my dad was still alive, this wouldn't have been the end. He would have fought for some legal justice.

"There will be some who are still angry, and will want to take this to court. For others, this will be closure.

"For me personally and my family, it will put closure to it but really he should be here to see this victory."

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