SHADOW Chancellor and Central Devon MP Mel Stride has called on the government to “urgently rethink” its economic policies after a new survey found many businesses are preparing to cut jobs, reduce hiring and raise prices.

Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), carried out in January, found 32 per cent of 2,019 firms surveyed plan to reduce their workforce through redundancies or recruiting fewer workers.

Also revealed was that 42 per cent plan to raise prices in response to bigger employment costs and 24 per cent said they would cancel or scale down plans to invest in or expand their business.

It follows the Budget in October in which increases to employer National Insurance contributions and the National Minimum Wage were announced.

“The government says it wants to deliver stability, but their lack of foresight and economic understanding looks set to cost thousands of jobs and push many businesses to the brink both nationally and here in Central Devon,” said Mr Stride.

“With these tax changes set to take effect in April, Rachel Reeves needs to urgently rethink her approach before it’s too late.”

In response, a spokesperson for HM Treasury said: “We delivered a Budget to wipe the slate clean and deliver the stability businesses need to invest and grow, while protecting working people’s payslips from higher taxes, ensuring more than half of employers either see a cut or no change in their National Insurance bills, and delivering a record pay boost for millions of workers.

“Now we are going further and faster to kickstart economic growth to raise living standards by backing businesses to create wealth across Britain by capping corporation tax, making full expensing permanent and permanently cutting business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses on the high street from next year.”