The British business community has urged the Chancellor of the Exchequer to abandon short-sighted thinking to avoid small tax increases affecting businesses

The UK's largest business lobbying group has warned that a series of small-scale tax hikes in the budget prepared by Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deal a blow to businesses, saying she should "prioritize long-term prosperity over short-sighted thinking".

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Liz Reeves delivered a speech on Tuesday (November 4th), laying the groundwork for the tax increase measures in the November 26th budget. Against the backdrop of rising borrowing costs, the high cost of policy reversals and the global economic headwinds brought about by Trump's tariff war, she sought to take action to fill the fiscal gap.

In last year's budget mainly targeting businesses, she raised taxes by 40 billion pounds (52 billion US dollars). The Confederation of British Industry has recently issued a statement warning that "a wide variety of taxes are not a reliable way to achieve economic prosperity."

Mohammad Jamei, the economic policy director of the Confederation of British Industry, told Bloomberg that instead of trying to raise the necessary funds through a series of smaller taxes, the finance minister should break the Labour Party's campaign promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or value-added tax, which are the three main sources of income for the Treasury.

Jaime believes: "Breaking campaign promises can restore her financial credibility." He also pointed out that Reeves needs to come up with a large enough plan to put an end to the various speculations about taxation in this parliament (which will last until mid-2029). "Businesses can sometimes bear additional costs," he said, "but what they cannot bear is uncertainty."

Reeves promised to maintain fiscal soundness to safeguard the confidence of financial markets in the UK economy. However, this month's budget is a dangerous moment for her party. The promise to the three major taxes was her core campaign promise, but now in order to fill the budget gap and expand the margin for error, she may have to abandon this promise.

Rain Newton-Smith, the chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry, said: "Yearly patchwork to fill the ever-widening fiscal gap is by no means a feasible solution to such a huge challenge. We must make tough decisions now, or we will face a vicious circle. We will have to borrow from Peter to pay Paul to maintain normal government spending, which will endanger our growth prospects." "

The heads of the five major business lobbying groups in the UK - the Confederation of British Industry, the Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers' Association, the Directors' Association and the Small Business Association - held a closed-door meeting with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Tuesday to fight for the rights and interests of British businesses.