Gemma MacKenzie

Cornwall Living, Beach Loving! 😊Mama to Odin & Cat Mama to Milo the Maine coone. Love a G&T and a prosecco or 2! 😊

[Gemma MacKenzie @OdinMack]

Night time biomes at Eden #EdenSessions

[Gemma MacKenzie @OdinMack]

@BritainisCool Rupert Lowe

[Gemma MacKenzie @OdinMack]

@bagshaw2112 Restore

[Eoin Daly @eoinmauricedaly]

Could we please receive clarity soon on whether we’re facing a period of temporary inflation or a civilisational collapse where we live in caves and eat weeds.
Thank you for your attention to this matter

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Please correct me if I’m wrong, and I’m sure plenty will try, but British women don’t particularly care about these boring template social media posts from politicians for ‘international women’s day’.

We are all fed up of this meaningless bullshit that we constantly get from MPs. It means nothing. It achieves nothing. It changes nothing. Ever.

It’s my view that British women would rather politicians put their efforts into make our communities safe again, secure again, welcoming again. Where women feel comfortable walking through town without a man alongside them, or free to enjoy a night out without foreign perverts and illegal migrants leering and grabbing at them.

And yes, of course, there are British creeps and abusers. We all know that. Sadly, we can’t deport them, prison will have to suffice. But we can remove the foreign ones, and so we should. In the many, many, many thousands.

Or maybe they’d prefer politicians stopped indulging these mad fantasies that a man can become a woman - so blatantly degrading what it even is to be a woman.

Let’s go one further. MPs could vote to entirely ban biological men from women’s sports, spaces and prisons. I would certainly cast my vote in favour. Restore Britain would scrap the gender recognition act and impose strict legal protections for single-sex spaces. Action, not words.

I suspect that’s something the vast majority of British women could get behind...

What about creating an economy where women and their husbands feel financially secure enough to raise a family? Possibly have more children, if they choose? A country that feels safe enough to actually build that life?

A complete restructuring of the childcare system that doesn’t bankrupt mothers if they wish to work as their children grown up. That’s what I want. That’s what Restore Britain wants.

The Government could even act to stop the ongoing rape of Britain - where endless vulnerable girls have been raped by gangs of foreign men. Many being trafficked overseas where they still remain.

Is that not important enough? Clearly, it isn't. And it makes me sick thinking about the lack of any appetite to tackle it from this Government.

Furious doesn't cover it.

Everything has to change. All of it. Not minor tinkering or reform. Absolute restoration is required.

British women are every bit as patriotic as us men. They might not shout as much about it, but millions and millions and millions of British women want to restore our country to a nation they are proud to call home.

So, please, politicians must now spare us these empty platitudes that are entirely pointless.

It’s my view that British women now want action. No more talk. Action. Far-reaching, radical, ruthless action - to protect their interests, their safety, and their families.

There is a political party now dedicated to doing all of this.

Restore Britain.

I am so proud that millions of women are putting their faith in us.

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Sole traders. Micro businesses with one or two employees. Freelancers. Plumbers. Electricians. Hairdressers. Mechanics. Accountants. Gardeners. Whatever it is, whoever they are. These are the workers that keep the economy going. Not the big global corporates.

Politicians, and those devising the rules, simply do not understand how these people live. Nobody ever even talks about the one or two people operations in Westminster.

Saturday morning in the bureaucrat’s world? Friday working from home, so nice easy day to finish off the week. Laptop closed by 15.00. Phone off for the weekend, not a care in the world. Life is sweet. Holiday coming up, mortgage comfortable, pension growing nicely.

The sole trader? Getting invoices and paperwork sorted at 6am before the children wake up. Chasing up late payments. Weighing up whether to do that last minute emergency call out, or spend time with the kids on a Saturday. Getting the diary sorted for next week. Phone goes and goes all weekend. It is never-ending. It does not stop.

It’s two different worlds honestly. The issue is that the latter entirely funds the former, and the former is hellbent on making life as difficult as possible for productive Britain.

I want to be really clear about what Restore Britain would do. Two things.

Crush parasitic Britain.

Unleash productive Britain.

First. Scrap IR35. It has created years of confusion, fear and chaos for contractors and small operators. It has pushed countless self-employed people into pointless paperwork and rigid inflexibility. Doesn’t work. It’s a right pain in the arse for millions. Scrap it.

Second, we will double the VAT threshold.

The current threshold traps thousands of small businesses just as they begin to grow. Many deliberately stop expanding to avoid the enormous administrative burden of VAT and the brutal cost hikes which drive demand away. The evidence of is obvious. Thousands hover just below the threshold, refusing to grow, hire or pay more tax. It is ABSURD.

Restore Britain would double the VAT threshold so small businesses can grow without being punished for success. This is absolutely necessary.

An important one - we would dramatically simplify the tax system for sole traders and micro-businesses (and everyone else, but that's separate).

Instead of forcing small operators through pages of complicated accounting rules designed for large corporations, we will introduce a far simplified tax regime for businesses below a certain size. Less paperwork, fewer forms, clearer rules. More money for them, less for the accountants and parasitic professional class. Sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it?

Next. We will end the endless culture of inspections and bureaucratic interference from the bureaucrats. Too many small businesses now live in fear of accidental breaches - whether it’s health and safety nonsense, employment law complexity, ridiculous data laws or constantly changing compliance requirements. The stress is immense. If you are a sole trader or micro-business acting in good faith, the system should support you, not threaten you.

Restore Britain will free them from endless regulatory suffocation. The mental health release on that is worth it alone.

Means a lot to me, this one. Restore Britain will make it easier for tradespeople to hire apprentices. This is important.

One of the biggest problems small businesses face is bringing in the next generation. The current system is too complicated, too expensive and too rigid for small firms.

Restore Britain will introduce simple, flexible apprenticeship schemes designed specifically for small businesses and trades.

Up next, we will simplify planning and licensing rules. For small builders, tradespeople and contractors - planning restrictions and local bureaucracy can delay work for months and add unnecessary costs. I detest planning departments more than I can describe in language appropriate for a Saturday morning.

These jumped-up empire-building little runts running councils across Britain will have their power stripped away from them. We will let people do business, we will let business owners run their businesses without the sneering council worker’s constant box ticking. Not complicated.

We will restore respect for the self-employed. Look at how they were treated during lockdown. Like dirt. Entirely abandoned whilst others were paid to do nothing. That must be addressed, and they must be compensated. The excluded must finally be recognised. That wrong must be rectified.

Under a Restore Britain Government, their efforts will be appreciated, celebrated and most importantly?

Rewarded.

This is the key point. Let’s not pretend otherwise.

The five golden rules of business.

What’s in it for me?

We will radically slash tax and raise thresholds. Tax on dividends would be hacked down so that success pays. More work, pays. Effort, pays. If the electrician does that last minute job on a Saturday, it will be worth their time. They will be rewarded, not HMRC.

Restore Britain will slash the bureaucracy, simplify the rules, cut the taxes. We will give small businesses the freedom they need to thrive, to support their families and to succeed.

Parasitic Britain will end.

Sole traders and micro businesses finally have a political party that will fight for them.

Restore Britain.

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

How would a Restore Britain Government support small businesses? First step, and possibly the most important. We understand the problems and trust me, I know how difficult it is. I’ve been there, I’ve done it. The effort that goes into keeping a small firm profitable and operational is vast, and NOBODY in Government understands that.

THE most important way to help small businesses is tax.

GET IT DOWN. Corporation tax - we should be aiming for the lowest in Europe. Undercut our neighbours, take their business. Be ruthless. Make Britain the most attractive place to operate on the continent. Watch how the money then flows in.

Rates will slashed on income and dividend, thresholds pushed up. We must urgently reward success. NI not raised, but cut. If we want businesses to hire, MAKE IT CHEAPER.

Because what happens when employment gets more expensive?

Costs get passed on. Contracts stall. Hiring cancelled. Investment is paused. It grinds the economy to a halt. Businesses stop spending money. They wait and see.

Everyone suffers.

IR35 will go in the bin on day one. Things change, contracts change, circumstances change. IR35 accounts for none of that, adding layers of unnecessary paperwork and regulation. Flexibility matters.

VAT threshold would be doubled. There are so many businesses hovering just under £90k, desperately avoiding VAT. Fair enough, I don’t blame them. So let’s hike the threshold and unleash that demand. We would like to see a tax holiday for small businesses in the first few years - give them the breathing space they need to grow and find their feet.

HMRC will pick up the phone, and you will be able to speak to an advisor who can actually speak fluent English. What a mad shock that would be...

We will end the HR-ification of Britain that is used to blackmail employers. Regulatory frameworks that are used to suffocate small businesses will be burnt away.

Farage attacks private sector employees working from home. I couldn’t give a shit where people choose to work. If the employer and employee are happy, then it’s none of our business.

Failing public sector officials? Different story.

Business rates for small businesses, abolished. We will brutally crack down on illicit trading - does Britain need so many Turkish barbers and vape shops? The answer, quite obviously, is no. Let’s be honest about what’s really often going on here. Money laundering.

There would be free car parking in high streets all over Britain. These little gnomes in councils have no idea. If parking is free at the retail parks, people will just go there. Let’s encourage them back into our high streets - that means tackling crime too, obviously, but one step a time here...

Licensing laws, planning bureaucracy, council red tape.

We will obliterate it all.

Let’s back British hospitality. Cut VAT, business rates abolished and burn back the endless nonsense they have to deal with. Ease laws on closing times and fast-track permits for outdoor seating. If people want to enjoy a late night drink or two, it's none of our business to tell them otherwise.

Restore Britain will put those jumped-up little council bastards back in their box. I promise you that.

Inheritance tax will be abolished. If a family wants to pass their business down the generations, then Government must not stand in the way. Tax has been paid, there should not be another bill following a death. It’s wicked and cruel.

Above all else - businesses need stable, long term thinking. The Budget should be a complete non-event, other than further tax cuts.

This can all be funded by brutalising down the fraudulent state that has become the enemy of the people.

And let me tell you this. ANYBODY who gets business will understand that these measures will pay for themselves many times over. If we reward hard work, then we’ll get more of it. More tax will be paid, and the economy will boom.

These are just my initial thoughts on what a Restore Britain Government would do.

We would create an environment in which it's easy to do business, and then we would leave you the hell alone.

The message is this to small business owners...

Restore Britain is on your side.

You finally have a political party that will fight for your interests.

[Bark @barkmeta]

2020: “You sound like a conspiracy theorist”

2024: “Okay maybe you were onto something”

2026: “How did you know all of this?”

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

“I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all frighten people and secondly, demoralise them…An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern.”

~ Tony Benn

[Peter Bleksley @PeterBleksley]

Today is;
‘National well done for working hard all your life, being financially responsible, and planning for the future, so this government is coming to punish you in order to give your cash to lazy fuckers Day.’
Enjoy.

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

What Reeves should announce today, but obviously won’t.

Everything costs more. Food, rent, mortgages, insurance, childcare, energy, basic goods, services, the weekly shop, a pint. Britain is getting poorer, faster.

People feel it, and they’re right. Inflation has eaten us alive. Wages wiped out. Savings eroded. Families poorer. Britain weaker.

We are getting ripped off. Why?

Because Britain is addicted to the size of its own state.

Here’s what Reeves should say.

Tax cuts. Lots of tax cuts.

- Raise the personal allowance dramatically - let people keep the first £20,000 they earn, minimum. No tax. It will cost, but the savings it will produce from encouraging people back into work will be vast,
- Slash Income Tax/National Insurance, especially on middle-earners who’ve been squeezed the hardest. This is uncomplicated, Rachel. REWARD HARD WORK.
- Remove the stealth taxes they all pretend don’t exist - fiscal drag and frozen thresholds which quietly rob the British people every year.
- Give overseas skilled British workers vast tax benefits to relocate their tax revenue and skills back to Britain. Bring them home.
- Cut back VAT, reduce fuel duty, cut alcohol duty, none of this sugar tax bullshit.
- Stamp duty, gone for British families. Let’s get the property market moving.
- Licence fee, scrapped. On the bonfire. Day one. More cash in the pocket for families.

Unleash British business

- Cut Corporation Tax to the lowest rate in Europe. Undercut them. Compete. Win.
- Push back dividend thresholds and taxes. If people are successful, ENCOURAGE IT.
- Abolish Business Rates for small firms. Bring our high streets back. Turkish barber/vape shop fraud crackdown too - let's root out the criminals.
- Slash Employers’ National Insurance - the single biggest reason small firms won’t hire more staff. OBVIOUSLY. We need to get that right down. Non-negotiable.
- Supercharge deregulation, especially for small businesses. A redtape bonfire visible from space. Let it burn.
- End the HR-ification of Britain. Bosses should be able to sack people, and they’ll end up actually hiring more because of that.
- Scrap IR35, immediately. Leave people to interface between themselves.
- Double the VAT threshold, possibly more. Overnight, vast growth will be unleashed from businesses hovering just under £90k. The figures show it already!
- Super-deductions for investment, including capital allowances and R&D incentives. Encourage people to invest and they will!
- Get police policing, and restoring some confidence for investment. Make Britain safer, and that will make Britain richer.

A brutal restructuring of the welfare state. And I mean brutal.

- No benefits for foreign nationals. If you arrive here, you contribute. If you’re here and you don’t? You leave. Billions saved, with one stroke.
- Mandatory work requirements for all those able to work. If you want support from taxpayers, you must give something back. A fair time to search for a job, but then you’re put to work. Picking litter or whatever else.
- Full disability fraud crackdown using data-matching and HMRC-style enforcement. Weed out the piss-takers.
- A cap on total household benefit claims - it should never pay more to stay home than to work. Never.

Drive for self-sufficiency.

- Domestic energy production on a huge scale, like we’ve never seen before. Drive that cost of energy down. Fracking. North Sea extraction. New nuclear. Gas storage. Cheap dependable energy = lower prices for everything. It’s that simple.
- Food security, with domestic output boosted and less reliance on foreign supply chains.
- Support British farming. Scrap the family farming tax. Use the public sector’s purchasing power to BUY BRITISH from our farmers. End dependency. Boost farming apprenticeships.
- A national infrastructure plan focused on logistics, ports, roads, and freight efficiency. The cheaper it is to produce and transport things, the lower prices fall. Places like Great Yarmouth with our fantastic port will boom. Stop building roads in Guyana, and use that money in Britain.

A robust plan to deal with the cancer of inflation.

- Immediate ban on money-printing (QE) without explicit Parliamentary approval. No more splurges by the Bank of England and that toad Bailey.
- Slash public spending - genuine far-reaching cuts. Nobody is safe. All departments.
- Foreign aid. Gone. Entirely. Billions saved overnight.
- Freeze all non-essential recruitment across the entire public sector (excluding front-line staff). A workforce pause, until inflation is under control. Then follows strict limits.
- A structured debt-repayment schedule, legally binding, to get those vast billion debt-interest payments falling. If you want some awful perspective - we now spend more on debt interest than on defence. No serious country on earth behaves like this. Britain does. It’s like some third world African tinpot dictatorship approach to economic affairs.
- We need to cut the debt, not just the deficit.
- Public sector pension liability - all off balance sheet. Needs a total overhaul as state employees are radically cut.

Stop importing poverty, crime and sex pests.

- Shut down all illegal migration with mass deportations, rapid removals, third-country processing, and no exceptions. Billions saved on abolishing asylum and related costs.
- Cut legal migration to net-negative, especially low-wage migration that undercuts British workers.
- Remove those who are a drain. If they’re claiming benefits, living in social housing, unable to speak English, refusing to contribute? Thanks, but your presence is no longer required. Bye.
- Deport foreign sex pests and criminals. Make our towns safe again. Watch how investment flows back into our dying high streets.

We must urgently cut back the bankrupt British state. Growth only comes from the following things.

A smaller state. Lower taxes. More people working. Fewer people scrounging. Cheaper energy. Stronger borders. Mass deportations. Actual production.

That is it. Reeves sadly does not have the balls to do what is necessary.

Britain needs an economic revolution.

[Ben Habib @benhabib6]

The country is on an economic knife edge. It is without growth, and with massive debt and tax levels. Things are worse than they have been since World War 2.

We got here by governments first creating a nanny state and then elevating her to wet nurse status.

Over the last 30 years wealth creation has been replaced by wealth redistribution and aspiration by dependency. In the pursuit of growth governments have turned to mass immigration - nothing more than a ponzi scheme. Our problems are being exacerbated.

Tomorrow @RachelReevesMP will do more of the same borrow, tax and spend. The UK is heading into a full on financial crisis.

There is only one route out of this: slash spending, deregulate, ditch Net Zero and cut taxes. And yes, slash immigration/ remove benefits form foreigners and deport anyone who should not be in the country.

She will not do any of that. We are in deep trouble.

[Mr. Nobody @MmisterNobody]

It’s wild that it’s become normal to leave your kids at daycare five days a week, eight hours a day, just so you can go to a job that mainly pays for daycare, the car to get there, and a house you’re rarely home to enjoy. We’re stuck in a cycle of working just to afford a life we barely get to live.

[Gemma MacKenzie @OdinMack]

@leeharris I’d love to know how much I’m paying a company to provide primary school children with toast and jam made from s**tty bread…we can all afford to feed our children a piece of toast and jam 🤯🤯🤯

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Unemployment rising. What on earth could have caused that? Who could have possibly predicted it?! Oh. All of us.

This is not a mystery. It’s the inevitable result of a government that keeps taxing work and punishing the people who actually create jobs and generate wealth.

OBVIOUSLY.

Treating business as a lemon to squeeze, not a tree to grow.

Employers’ National Insurance - an actual tax on employing people - has risen again and again. You tax employment, unemployment goes up. This is so painfully obvious. How can these useless gnomes not see it?!

Then there’s corporation tax - hiked as well. Business rates that crush high streets. VAT thresholds that trap small firms and discourage growth. Brutal dividend thresholds that mean earning more is often simply not worth it.

Every single one of these is a tax on productivity, a tax on success.

And when you tax something, you get less of it.

Ask any small business owner. They’ll all say the same.

The system DOES NOT work. I’ve built businesses, run businesses. One of the few MPs to do so… If more of us were in Westminster, we may actually get somewhere.

We now have a country where it’s easier and cheaper not to work than to employ or be employed. Easier to sit on your arse doing sod all than actually contributing. If you’re fit to work, you must work. It’s that simple.

You can’t build a vibrant economy on higher taxes, higher regulation, and higher energy costs.

You just can’t. Certainly not with Reeves in charge. She may be a pleasant woman, I don’t know, but she is utterly incompetent. Weak, inept, failing. She must go.

The Treasury’s addiction to taxation is killing the very people it relies on to fund the state.

What can we do to fix it?

- Cut Corporation Tax to the lowest in Europe - send a clear signal that Britain is open for business.
- Undercut our neighbours. Go for their business. Compete against the Europeans. Win.
- Abolish Business Rates entirely for small companies.
- Double the VAT threshold, so small firms aren’t punished for growing.
- Ditch IR35. Immediately.
- Slash NI. Stop taxing jobs.
- Overhaul dividend tax rates. REWARD success!
- Ditch all inheritance tax on businesses/farms, so parents can pass successful firms down to their children.
- Burn red tape - a full review of every employment, HR and health-and-safety regulation that throttles small employers. Look at every single one. If there’s no good reason for it, scrap it.
- Get HMRC to PICK UP THE PHONE.
- Crucially - end the HRification of Britain.

Reward work and remember that real growth comes when government gets out of the way.

This is all possible. Very possible. It can be done and it must be done.

It just takes balls.

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Parents should have the right to take their children out of school during term-time for a limited number of days.

Childhood is short. Parents should not need permission from the state to raise their own children.

My contribution in Parliament today...

[Gemma MacKenzie @OdinMack]

@TheMarcitect We’ve all decided to be here at this moment…for sure…

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Tax. We’ve all become so used to it, we forget how much we’re actually paying. It is relentless, even beyond death. And for what? If we had a semblance of functioning public services, I could maybe stomach it. But we don’t, so what are we actually paying all of this money for?

We are subject to Scandinavian levels of tax for third-world levels of competence - what a toilet deal.

Earn a salary. Income tax, a fifth gone before we’ve even started. National insurance, more on top of that. What for? A ‘world-class’ health service? The NHS? Ha. Good luck.

Even getting to work costs - taxes on buying a car, running a car, insuring a car. Vast amount of road tax. Is that being well spent? Unless you want potholes you can paddle in, the answer is no. A road network built for half the amount of cars. How’s that going? It takes twice as long to get anywhere. Fuel duty and tax on insurance - whack that on top too. Congestion charges, tolls, fines and more. It goes on and on and on.

Forget getting the train, that’ll cost twice as much and never runs on time - a season ticket into London costs thousands. Unaffordable. Yet the trains so often run empty? Maybe that system isn’t working…

VAT on anything that moves - getting taxed to buy products/services, from already taxed money.

Tax, tax, tax, tax, tax, tax. Then more tax.

Did you go to university? Your ‘loan’ isn’t loan, it’s a tax. Interest is so sharp, you’re just paying that off each month. Hundreds gone, to pay for a sociology degree a decade ago. Ouch. Why are we saddling our youngsters with so much debt, with so much interest on top of that? Madness.

Manage to put a few quid away to save? That gets taxed too - ISAs will be under attack in the budget. Profit made on successful investments, what happens? You guessed it. Tax.

Somehow you’ve scrabbled a deposit together for a property. Well done.

Paying half a million quid for a semi-detached? Not cheap. Stamp duty means you get slapped for thousands. Obviously first time buyer exemptions mean less and less as house prices soar.

You’re in the house. Great news. Or so you thought. Council tax. Going up seemingly by 5% every year. Thousands of pounds a year. For what? To collect the bins? Really? Don’t forget the extra costs to have your garden waste removed. Brilliant.

More insurance taxes, and of course VAT on any improvements you want to make. Bills soaring, with tax slapped onto every corner of it - green levies and the rest.

How depressing. Time for a pint.

Alcohol duty. Because of course. Why wouldn’t they throw extra tax on it? I’m not a smoker, but the same applies. Even holidays. Air passenger duty to put a few extra quid onto the price of a trip away. Just for good measure.

You’re limping on through. Maybe you decide that starting your own business is the way to go?

You get it up and running, starting to make a reasonable profit. Take a small salary - to pay for such luxuries as food and heating. As we know, that gets taxed.

Alongside the costs. National Insurance. Business rates. Fees and licences. It is endless.

What’s left after all that? A profit? Surely good news?

Bang. Corporation tax. A big slice gone. After that, we can enjoy a handsome profit. Right?

Nope. Dividend tax. With its brutal thresholds. What slivers you do take get taxed all over again when you want to actually buy something. Obviously.

And the final kick in teeth.

Inheritance tax.

After everything, somehow, you’ve managed to put a reasonable amount of money away. After all that tax, you’ve succeeded in building a financial legacy to pass to your children - your business, and your own savings.

Money you were taxed on the day you earned it, taxed when you saved it, taxed when you invested it, taxed to build your business. It gets taxed one final time. On both your personal savings, and also the value of your company.

Even after death, it continues.

What are we paying all this money for?

Are our schools world-class? Borders secure? Police visible? NHS efficient? Economy thriving? Roads operational?

No. No. No. No. No. No. NOTHING WORKS.

Britain has the highest tax burden in most of our lifetimes, yet the worst services many of us have ever seen. If everything worked perfectly, there could maybe be an argument for such suffocating levels of tax. But it doesn’t, and hasn’t for decades, so there isn’t.

When the taxpayers fail to fund this state monster of inefficiency and unaccountability, what do they do?

QE. Print money. Creating inflation, devaluing our earnings and our savings. Yet one more tax.

The people creating all of this, implementing all of this? £100k plus on the public sector, living in London. Comfortable salary, great pension, no job risk. Clueless about the real world.

Maybe, just maybe, the current approach isn’t working.

We need to urgently cut tax. Shrink government. Reward hard work.

You just can’t tax a nation into prosperity. It never has worked, and it never will work.

LEAVE OUR MONEY ALONE.

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

I sit in Parliament listening to these ministers, and it’s all just so depressing - the vast majority of them have never run a business, and it SHOWS. You would not believe how bad it is.

They think ‘work’ means turning up to an office between 9 and 5, answering a few emails, and going home at the end of the day. Nice lunch break, few coffees away from the desk, probably a smoking break or several. It doesn’t - not for the millions of men and women who actually create the wealth that funds the state.

Running a small business isn’t a job. It’s a way of life. It is life. It’s 24/7/365. It’s relentless. You are the accountant, HR department, compliance officer, cleaner, marketer, and customer service team - all in one. There’s no sick pay, no safety net, and no taxpayer-funded pension waiting for you.

Holiday? Good luck. If you do manage to get away, it’s checking the phone all day, every day. Wife/husband obviously getting pissed off. We’ve all been there...

It’s all on you. Every invoice chased, every tax deadline met, every bit of red tape navigated is on you. And if you make one mistake, one error, one small slip-up, the state comes after you - in a relentlessly efficient manner that is never afforded to us when we ask questions of it.

Most MPs have no idea what that feels like. They just don’t. We’re going to see more of this in the budget I’m sure. More hurt. More pain. More tax. They don’t get it.

They don’t understand that when a small business owner gets hit with another tax, it’s not absorbed by a ‘budget’ - it’s taken straight out of their family’s pocket.

There is no ‘deficit’ in the business world - that’s called going bust.

And they certainly don’t understand what real risk looks like. Politicians can vote through a policy on Monday and forget it by Tuesday - a small business owner lives with the consequences of that policy for years, decades. The MP monthly salary is safe. It always has been. In the public sector before, and in the public sector after - if not that, some charity/NGO funded entirely by the public sector.

GET A REAL JOB.

If MPs actually spent a week running a small firm - paying suppliers, tackling VAT, navigating health and safety law, sorting out HR issues, chasing clients for payment, trying to expand while staying compliant with everything from GDPR to local planning regulations - they’d legislate very differently. I can promise you that.

They’d realise that most of Britain’s problems could be solved by the state doing less, not more.

Cutting tax. Simplifying regulation. Slashing back the HRification of the country. Trusting people who actually produce things to get on with it.

Instead, we have a political class that talks endlessly about ‘growth’ while brutally punishing the only people capable of delivering it - especially going after the family businesses/farms, which is a particularly spiteful policy decision.

Small business owners are people who work harder than almost anyone in Parliament could imagine - and who are treated worse for it.

Britain’s small businesses don’t succeed because of politicians, they survive in spite of them.

[Gemma MacKenzie @OdinMack]

@LeAdderNoire 😆