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Good clothes: Actress Sienna Miller with M&S boss Stuart Machin
The Marks & Spencer boss has criticized Labour’s “pessimism” and warned there is no “coherent growth narrative” ahead of the Budget.
Stuart Machin said he was “concerned” about the impact of increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions along with other tax increases affecting retailers, including business rates and fuel taxes.
He said: “Raising these taxes is not a difficult decision, it is the easy way out.” It might improve public finances in the short term, but it hinders economic recovery and harms our customers and colleagues who still struggle with the cost of living.’
M&S is the latest major employer to sound the alarm as Labour’s ‘pro-growth’ agenda is questioned.
Echoing other voices on the high street, Machin said “consumer confidence has plummeted after all the doom and gloom”.
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