Two days before Rachel Reeves delivers her Autumn Budget, the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) chief executive has urged the chancellor to avoid another “Groundhog Day” speech and focus on “tough choices” that generate growth.
Speaking at the CBI’s annual conference, Rain Newton Smith warned against Reeves against “death by a thousand taxes”. She said:
“A year on from a Budget that turned to business to plug a hole, loading on £24 billion per year in extra costs. Pushing the tax burden to a 25-year high, with two-thirds of those taxes hitting business before you’ve even made a profit. Changing Inheritance Tax rules for farmers and family firms alike – draining investment, squeezing margins and putting over 200,000 jobs at risk.
“One year later, here we are again. A new fiscal gap. Billions of pounds wide. More rumours. More U-turns. Raising uncertainty. Business holding its breath again. Investment paused, projects on hold. It feels less like we’re on the move, and more like we’re stuck in Groundhog Day.”
Raises taxes every Autumn and Spring is “short-term tinkering”, Newton Smith said, and risks the UK “getting locked in a stop-start economy”, “a cycle of doubt and uncertainty”, and “a road to decline”.
She added: “If growth is your priority, prove it. Make hard choices for it, against opposition, against short-term politics. Be it welfare, be it pensions increases – show the markets you mean business.
“All short-term politics leads to is long-term decline, and this country cannot afford another decade of stagnation. That means making hard choices for growth now – before they get harder.
“If this government truly wants the road to growth, work with business to fix what’s broken at this Budget and beyond.
“Pick up the policies that have sat in the “too difficult” box for too long. Forge a tax system that rewards investment. A rates system that encourages growth. Get the infrastructure we need. Get the economy moving. Go big. Go bold. Deliver, deliver, deliver on the promises you’ve made.”
Speaking to hundreds of businesses at the CBI Annual Conference 2025 in London, our CEO @RainNewtonSmith uses a major speech just days ahead of the UK Budget to challenge the government to make hard choices. #CBI25
Read more here 👇https://t.co/sBTAYdjbas pic.twitter.com/jmAr8zY06s
— CBI (@CBItweets) November 24, 2025
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