'Labour can't run a bath': AO World boss calls plans to scrap two-child benefit cap 'madness'
The boss of electricals retailer AO World has called on the Chancellor to focus on cutting welfare spending rather than hitting businesses with more taxes, branding reported plans to scrap the two-child benefit cap as “madness”.
Chief executive John Roberts said the Labour party needed to “man up” and “make some difficult decisions” in Wednesday’s Budget.
He told the PA news agency that plans to boost welfare spending while the nation’s public finances need repairing, including speculation over moves to ditch the two-child benefit cap, were “madness”.
He urged Rachel Reeves to look at measures within the Government’s own spending to plug the public finances black hole and not hit businesses with more taxes.
He said: “Business is a force for good in the economy. It gets demonised in this government and all it’s seen as is a source of more and more tax that they can then blow on the welfare budget.”
Mr Roberts told PA the Cabinet “couldn’t run a bath let alone a business”. “They have not business experience or appreciation in this government,” he added.
The group’s half-year results on Tuesday showed the group was hit with around £4 million in extra costs from the Government’s move to increase national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage in April.
Despite this, AO World reported a 10 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £18 million for the six months to September 30 and said annual profits would be around the top end of recently upgraded guidance, for pre-tax profits of between £45 million and £50 million. It said the popularity of its membership programme was helping to drive the performance.