𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Question Time opened badly for Labour tonight with one audience member firing off an opening salvo asking “what is the point of working” with Rachel Reeves “taxing everything in sight”. The frank question was posed to the panel, including Labour Treasury minister James Murray, Conservative shadow Treasury minister Gareth Davies, Lib Dem MP Calum Miller, Pizza Express and Gail’s Bakery entrepreneur Luke Johnson and Guardian and Observer writer Sonia Sodha.

Fiona Bruce hosted the panel show from Watford and introduced the first question from the audience to kick off tonight’s show. Audience member Emma, who was wearing a smart jumper and glasses, produced a humdinger of a starter for the panel, asking: “With Rachel Reeves taxing everything and everybody in sight, what is the point in working hard and being aspirational?”

Taking the question to the panel, Ms Bruce said: “Right, well you sound pretty fed up Emma”.

Responding with his thoughts, businessman Mr Johnson said: “This was a Budget for people who receive welfare and benefits, and not for working people.”

He added “there is no growth” from the Budget and that he “cannot remember a time” businesspeople in the UK were “as demoralised as they are”.

Columnist Ms Sodha said Labour had made the mistake of going “into the last election saying ‘vote for us and we’ll fix it all within five years’”, adding that it could take a lot longer and that she wished politicians were “more honest”.

Labour’s Mr Murray, who is Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Rachel Reeves, claimed the Chancellor’s massively taxing Budget was “fair” and “necessary” to tackle “long-term challenges”.

He said: “We are asking everyone to make a contribution but we are keeping that contribution for working people as low as we possibly can.”

Conservative Mr Davies said the public were “quite angry” with the Budget and that choices were made they weren’t told about “before the election”.