Shropshire Star

Pharmacists the latest to lambast impact of Budget

First it was the farmers. Then the retailers began to make their misgivings known. Quickly followed by the car manufacturers.

Published

Now the pharmacists have added themselves to the growing list of groups warning of dire consequences resulting from the draconian tax hikes in last month's Budget.

It is hard to think of a budget in living memory that has managed to antagonise so many different sectors of society. 

Community Pharmacy England, backed by other trade bodies, has written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, warning that the increase in National Insurance contributions, combined with an increase in the national minimum wage, will push many chemist shops to the brink of extinction.

This could be particularly troubling for the Government, at a time when the NHS is looking to community pharmacies to reduce pressure on over-stretched GP practices and hospitals.

Before the election, Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves repeatedly promised they would not impose extra taxes on what they loosely defined as 'working people'. Day by day, as their first budget continues to unravel, they are learning the hard truth, that a tax rise is a tax rise, however it is presented.

The general public are not stupid. They realise that the coronavirus pandemic, followed by the war in Ukraine, have left the Government - and therefore the taxpayer - with a significant bill to pay. 

What people don't like is being taken for fools, and told they won't have to pay more in tax, only to find they are being penalised by the back door.

And if the cash grab manifests itself in job losses, rising food prices, and damage to the health service,  Labour might find that people's patience will wear pretty thin.