Stuart Machin of M&S is not sparing Labour's blushes, says ALEX BRUMMER

Updated: 02:50 EDT, 10 October 2026 Stuart Machin of M&S is not sparing Labour’s blushes ahead of the October 28 Budget with a blistering attack on business taxes. Even Britain’s low octane financial lobby groups finally have been spurred into action with a passionate plea to spare the banks further tax punishment. His full-fronted assault on the Government’s tax raids is a refreshing intervention by a retailer who, together with his chairman Archie Norman, is reinventing M&S for the mid-21st Century. Machin’s charge that the last two Budgets ‘were a disaster’ will not be easy reading for their author Rachel Reeves. The M&S chief executive backs up his words with figures. Labour already has added £150million to M&S’s annual costs at a company which pays £500million in taxes a year. The message from Machin will have resonance among voters in seats across the country where M&S is a presence. The group currently is involved in a big expansion programme with a landmark new store in Liverpool doubtless visited by some Labour faithful during conference. Stuart Machin of Marks & Spencer is not sparing Labour’s blushesIt is also opening new M&S Food Halls across the country. This includes Norcross, not far from the working people’s stronghold of Blackpool. Machin applauds Andy Burnham’s refreshed message of giving ‘hope again’. He is still waiting to see the beef ahead of John Healey’s first Budget, demanding the ‘handcuffs’ come off business. Quite how that will happen, given the fiscal black hole which is likely to open by the end of this Parliament, is questionable.Burnham is full of ideas but seems incapable of bringing them to fruition. The frustration over the failure to decide on drilling the Rosebank and Jackdaw North Sea oilfields angers Norway’s Equinor and has given rise to misgivings at Britain’s oil major Shell. It has big investments in refining, oil trading, and downstream supplies of energy to motorists, the transport industry, business and agriculture. Despite smoke and mirrors the much-vaunted National Care Service will not start to see the light of day before the next Parliament. The opportunity to build a care endowment fund, by adopting a German-style social market levy, appears to be beyond the comprehension of this government. Yet such boldness was precisely part of the thinking behind the creation of the NHS by the much-admired Atlee government, which pressed ahead in the face of a post-war debt to national income ratio of 250 per cent. It is to Reeves’ credit that as Chancellor she recognised the need to unlock growth by investing in a third runway at Heathrow. There has been much waffle, since Burnham took office, about Heathrow failing to put in a formal request for a licence. Moreover, the Government’s £49billion plan for a third runway, which would cross the M25, would be hard to deliver. Much more practical is the plan put forward by the Heathrow Reimagined campaign and spearheaded by one of Britain’s most patriotic entrepreneurs, Surinder Arora, who is responsible for much of the hotel hospitality industry at the airport. His scheme for a shorter runway, which can accommodate narrow body jets, is sensible, rooted in commerce and can be delivered for £25billion. US contractors Bechtel, with a proven record of airport developments, could play a big role. As one of the great entrepot economies, driven by financial and the services economy, as well as smart innovation from the likes of Deep Mind and Revolut, Britain needs the very best transport hub. Burnham needs to grab the joystick.DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you