If the Chancellor wants growth he should abolish all taxes on jobs

The economic statistic we should all be most focused on is the number of job vacancies in the economy, writes James Reed in today s Notebook If the Chancellor really wants growth he should abolish taxes on jobs Today, with Labour under new leadership, Chancellor John Healey has the opportunity to use his first Budget to get behind business, jobs and young people.Failing to do so was his predecessor’s big mistake. I warned before she implemented a £25bn increase in employers’ National Insurance that it would be a damaging tax on jobs and economic growth, and so it proved. While Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves talked a lot about growth being their number one priority, they failed to demonstrate much understanding of what drives entrepreneurship and job creation. Some of the early signs from Healey are encouraging. He has already pledged to devote today’s Budget to “bloody-minded entrepreneurs”, acknowledging small and fast-growing businesses have been hit by a barrage of fr