Critics of The Chancellor’s reported plans to hit milk-based drinks with a levy have come up with the moniker – a reference to the ‘Milk Snatcher’ nickname levelled at Margaret Thatcher
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been branded ‘the milk taxer’ over her latest idea to fill the £20bn budget black hole. The Chancellor is reportedly set to end a tax-based exemption for milk-based drinks, in a move being labelled ‘the milkshake tax’.
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy puts an extra 18p per litre on sugary beverages that contain 5g or more of sugar per 100ml.
Dairy-based drinks have so far been exempt – but that now looks set to change as Ms Reeves looks to fill the Budget black hole without an income tax hike that would break Labour’s manifesto pledge.
The changes are set to take effect in April 2027, with experts estimating the Treasury would bring in between £50m and £100m.
Ms Reeves has now been dubbed the ‘milk taxer’ . The nickname is a reference to the controversial move to end free milk in schools in the 1970s, when Margaret Thatcher was Education secretary.
In response to reports over a potential milkshake tax, one person posted an X (Twitter): “Once we had Margaret Thatcher the Milk Snatcher now we have Rachel Reeves the milk taxer.”
Other users posted similar messages – although according to her memoirs and archives, the future Prime Minister Thatcher had actually argued in cabinet against getting rid of free milk altogether.
A Treasury source declined to comment on the milkshake tax, according to The Sun, while the idea was slammed by Tory Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride.
He said: “If these reports are true, Labour’s new milkshake tax moves the goalposts yet again for an industry that’s already cut sugar and made changes responsibly.
“It will see businesses that played by the rules punished, with products suddenly dragged into the tax net – all to save Rachel Reeves’s skin.”
Meanwhile, fears over Ms Reeves’ upcoming Budget have been blamed for a dip in house prices. The average new seller asking price fell by 1.8% or £6,589 month-on-month in November, according to a property website.
It takes the average price tag on a home coming to market across Britain to £364,833. Rightmove, which released the figures, said this was a bigger-than-usual drop for this month.
They said speculation about the contents of the Budget is fuelling uncertainty across much of the market, particularly at the upper end.
Meanwhile, surveyors have also reported a notable cooling across the UK’s housing market. They said buyer demand, sales activity and new instructions all fell further into negative territory last month.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors report said property professionals strongly attribute the slowdown to mounting uncertainty ahead of the autumn Budget and potential tax-raising measures.
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