Good morning. A week from today, John Healey, the Chancellor, will be doing a media round to defend the budget he is set to present on Wednesday next week. Ahead of that, he has given an interview to Patrick Maguire from the Times. While there are no specific details about the measures he will present to MPs, the overarching message is clear and somewhat surprising, given that he serves a Prime Minister who is steering left compared to his predecessor.
Support for Entrepreneurs
Healey expressed his desire to support "bloody-minded entrepreneurs who make a profit." He acknowledged that the government has made their lives harder over the past two years. He emphasized that reducing the 'cost of living' for businesses is just as crucial as alleviating the real cost of living for families.
“"I want to be a chancellor who backs business in Britain making a profit, and those entrepreneurs who, in the end, are the ones who challenge the status quo, come up with innovative ideas and are trying, some of them through sheer bloody-mindedness, to keep going through these sorts of pressures... If you’re not making a profit, you’ve got nothing to put back into the business."
Acknowledgment of Pressure on Businesses
Healey recognized that the government has recently put "a lot of pressure" on businesses. He stated:
“"If you talk to any of the businesses that have come in and have either had one-to-ones or round tables with me, I have recognized that in recent times there’s been a lot of pressure: employment law, regulation, tax, input costs, supply chains."
