When one of the world's most cautious economic bodies starts waving a red flag, ministers should listen. The OECD has warned that Britain's economy is set to weaken, and it has named the culprit directly: higher taxes and tighter government spending that will drain household income and choke consumer demand. In plain English, the experts are telling Labour its own policy is making the country poorer.

A £26 Billion Tax Raid

The last Budget loaded a backended tax increase of around £26 billion onto the economy. That is money taken out of the pockets of workers, savers and businesses at exactly the moment the country needs them spending, hiring and investing. You cannot tax your way to growth. Every pound the Treasury grabs is a pound not spent on a high street, not invested in a workshop, not used to take someone on.

Dividend taxes have gone up. Business is being squeezed. And the message to anyone thinking of starting a company or expanding one is unmistakable: take the risk, do the work, and the state will be first in the queue for the reward. That is no way to build an enterprising economy.

The Stealth Tax Hitting Every Worker

Then there is the quiet robbery of fiscal drag. The personal allowance has been frozen at £12,570 since 2021, and it is set to stay frozen for years yet. As wages rise to keep pace with inflation, more and more people are dragged into higher tax bands without a single rate being announced. It is a tax rise by stealth, deliberately designed so politicians can deny they ever raised your taxes. Millions are paying more, and many do not even realise why.

Families Already Stretched to Breaking

None of this lands in a vacuum. A household that spent around £2,000 a month on essentials a few years ago is now paying closer to £2,450, an extra £5,000 or more a year just to stand still. Food, rent, energy and council tax keep climbing. Into that squeeze, Labour has chosen to pile higher taxes. It is the worst possible policy at the worst possible time.

What Reform UK Would Do

Reform UK would lift the income tax threshold so that low earners keep more of what they make and work always pays. We would cut the tax burden on small businesses so they can grow and hire. And we would reject the lazy Westminster consensus that the answer to every problem is to reach deeper into your wages. Growth comes from letting people keep and spend their own money, not from a Treasury that treats taxpayers as a bottomless cash machine.