Pressure ramps up on Reeves as damning report suggests businesses set to cut jobs
Pressure ramps up on Reeves as damning report suggests businesses set to cut jobs
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Private sector firms are preparing for another fall in activity, a survey from the CBI showed, prompting renewed calls for the chancellor to backtrack on her Budget. Pressure is piling on chancellor Rachel Reeves to U-turn on key economic policies after a damning new report suggested businesses are preparing to cut staff and raise prices.
![[Ms Reeves is preparing to make a major announcement on planning reform]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/26/09/GettyImages-2195059820.jpg)
In yet another sign the Treasury’s woes aren’t going anywhere, a fresh report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) indicated private sector firms expect to face another significant fall in activity over the next three months, having already dropped over the previous three-month period.
![[Liberal Democrats Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper called on Ms Reeves to accept her ‘Budget had not worked’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/15/46454e7cba5c62e339b8b8203f67019fY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM2OTUzNzI4-2.77792082.jpg)
Activity has been flat or falling since the middle of 2022, reflecting a prolonged period of stagnation. But the upcoming increase in national insurance contributions has prompted firms to assess their budgets urgently, the CBI said. The survey sparked renewed calls for the chancellor to “handbrake turn” on the policies announced in her autumn Budget, with the Liberal Democrats saying the chancellor “must accept that [it] has not worked”.
![[Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said businesses are ‘shouting out in fear for the future’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/12/11/eb72a17edf8e4301261ae723c050298eY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0MDg4MDc0-2.77982064.jpg)
The warnings come as Ms Reeves prepares to make a major announcement on planning reform. Ahead of a speech later this week, the chancellor promised to “take an axe to red tape that slows down approval of infrastructure projects”, betting her economic credentials on a commuter town boom in a hope it will spark growth in the UK.
