EMMA REYNOLDS SAYS EMPLOYERS ARE NOT WORKING PEOPLE

Emma Reynolds, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said employers do not count as "working people" because they are "companies". Speaking to GB News, she said: "I don't think employers are working people, they are companies." When asked whether someone who employs a cleaner would therefore not be a working person, she said there was "a difference between employers and employees". The comments prompted criticism from Conservative politicians, who said Labour had insulted small business owners. Small business owner Paul Bowen said the minister had "insulted all small business owners across Britain".

Shadow business minister Bradley Thomas described the remarks as "Labour's patronising, out-of-touch, politics of envy". He pointed to electricians who take on apprentices and florists who employ staff part-time as examples of small business owners the comments affected. Helen Whately, a former minister, said: "This attitude is why Labour is killing our economy. They don't understand businesses are built by hard graft. By working people." The exchange forms part of a continuing dispute over how Labour defines a "working person", with senior figures in the party having given differing explanations of who qualifies.

Labour's 2024 general election manifesto pledged not to raise taxes on working people, specifically income tax, VAT and National Insurance. Rachel Reeves, who was Chancellor at the time, subsequently raised employers' National Insurance contributions, prompting accusations that the pledge had been broken. Ministers said the commitment had not been broken because the increase fell on employers rather than employees. The question of who counts as a "working person" has remained a point of contention for the government since the manifesto commitment was made.