Starmer Recognizes Asking ‘a Lot’ of UK Firms With Tax Hikes

Keir Starmer at the British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London, on June 26.

Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg

Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged the toll his tax increases have had on UK businesses, signaling a potential shift as his Labour government faces pressure to resist additional hikes that could exert a drag on an already sputtering economy.

Starmer’s remarks Thursday were his first clear appreciation of Britain’s business community for shouldering the burden of Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ £40 billion ($54.9 billion) of tax increases, most of which came from payroll taxes.