Andy Burnham must ‘stop hammering Middle England’ with tax hikes, warns Carphone Warehouse co-founder

Comment now

ANDY Burnham must stop “hammering Middle England” with tax hikes, the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse has warned just weeks ahead of the Budget.

David Ross, who is now the boss of UK fashion retailer Jigsaw, slammed Labour’s tax hikes as damaging Britain’s high streets and squeezing hard-working families.

As part of a list of demands for the upcoming Budget on October 28, he told the PM to “leave working households’ take-home pay alone”.

He told MailOnline: “[Andy Burnham should] stop hammering Middle England. Our customer works, pays her taxes, and has watched frozen thresholds and higher bills eat her pay rise.

“Very often she’s also the person behind the till. Squeeze her and you squeeze the shop, the jobs and the tax take together.”

It comes amid fears that Chancellor John Healey is eyeing up more tax hikes as he prepares to present his Budget in a few weeks’ time.

Most read in Money

FRIGHT MOVE

Creepy home dubbed ‘scariest on Rightmove’ on sale for just £75k

RAISE A GLASS

Supermarkets slash price of RARE Baileys drink as it returns for Christmas

FEELING FESTIVE

Best Xmas presents of 2026 revealed in top awards – including £10 B&M find

PUMP PAIN

Petrol and diesel prices hit new 3-year high amid Iran war in fresh blow

Ross, who co-founded Carphone Warehouse in 1991, also called on the Government to scrap business rates hikes and exempt shops from paying a new higher rate.

Burnham should also lift the National Insurance threshold to £6,000, he added, to make it easier to hire young people. The threshold is currently £5,000 a year.

Finally, he called on the Government to make sure new employment laws don’t kill the Saturday job, where young people can “learn the value of hard work”.

It comes as Jigsaw, for which Ross became majority shareholder back in 2018, claimed its “turnaround is working” after its sales jumped by 18%.

Meanwhile, online sales grew by 21%, with a 19% rise in the UK and 48% increase internationally.

It said this was buoyed by “substantial growth” in key categories such as dresses, which saw a 43% surge for the spring/summer season.

Comment now

Monday 14 September

U Cluj