Key facts
- The CBI stated that business contributed 31% of UK tax revenues last year, the highest proportion since 1998.
- CBI Chief Executive Rain Newton-Smith stated that growth cannot be achieved through taxation alone.
- The CBI criticized the government's increase in employers' social security contributions, costing £27 billion last year.
- The CBI refuted claims of profiteering and price-gouging by businesses.
- The CBI expressed concern about political instability in Westminster impacting business.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged the UK government to reconsider its approach to taxing businesses and its rhetoric regarding price-gouging. CBI Chief Executive Rain Newton-Smith stated that business is not a 'cash tap' and that growth cannot be achieved through taxation alone. She highlighted that business contributed 31% of UK tax revenues in the past year, the highest proportion since comparable records began in 1998. Newton-Smith also criticized the finance minister, Rachel Reeves, for sharply increasing employers' social security contributions, which cost £27 billion ($36 billion) last year, an amount equivalent to employing 1.3 million young people on the minimum wage. The CBI refuted the narrative of profiteering and price-gouging, asserting that many firms are struggling to stay afloat, especially in the context of a cost-of-living shock potentially triggered by the Iran war. Furthermore, the CBI expressed concern over political instability in Westminster, warning that 'business cannot afford a summer of stagnation while the politics play out' due to the material cost of political maneuvering.