Jeremy Hunt's Budget pledges fail to lift cost of living fears

Business owners and shoppers in a south Wales town have said they are unsure if measures unveiled in the Budget will help boost the local economy.

Headline announcements from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt include further cuts to National Insurance and a continued freeze on fuel and alcohol duty.

Rebecca Clark, 27, a visitor to Tonypandy said the cost of everyday items keeps "going up and up".

She said national insurance cuts meant little in the face of rising costs.

Ms Clarke, a midwife from nearby Gilfach Coch, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said her mortgage and food costs had recently increased by £300 a month, and that gas and electricity bills kept rising.

"The money we save from national insurance cuts a year - when my mortgage is going up £300 more a month - that is not going to benefit me at all really, is it?"

She called for more money to be put towards public services, including the NHS.

"It will hopefully mean better staffing levels and better quality of life all around," she said.

In the Budget unveiled on Wednesday, Mr Hunt announced a widely-trailed 2p cut in national insurance, reducing the rate paid by employees from 10% to 8%, and from 8% to 6% for the self-employed.

He also extended eligibility for child benefits for around 170,000 families, with people earning up to £60,000 getting benefits in full and the threshold for them to be withdrawn entirely raised to £80,000.

Mr Hunt said the change to national insurance, combined with the 2p cut that came into effect in January, would be worth £450 a year to an employee on an average salary of £35,000.

Elsewhere in Tonypandy, Jude Powell runs the Cariad Hair Company.

Last year Ms Powell, 44, put her life savings towards buying her own premises after rising rent and "extortionate" utilities bills became unaffordable.

The company employs one junior stylist, while the rest of the staff are self-employed.

"We have found the best way going forward in business isn't to employ these days, because there are so many other extras involved in employment," she said.

Ms Powell added that measures such as an increase of the VAT threshold and a 2p cut to national insurance would not make "a massive difference" for small businesses like hers.

"[The] national insurance cut is not going to be a notable change for many people, especially the self-employed. Things need to come down in other ways, like stock prices."

Ms Powell said she wanted to keep costs at the salon down, but that had a knock-on effect on wages.

"We have had to cut back just to keep the salon running," she said.

Tracy Williams, a self-employed hairdresser working at the salon, said the rising cost of living was a regular topic of conversation with her clients, with many people in Tonypandy "finding it hard".

"I work, my husband works - I just feel as we are both working full time that we should be benefiting from having that income and it doesn't matter how many hours you put in, it gets swallowed up by something these days," she said.

Mr Hunt also announced increased taxes on vaping products from October 2026, to make the habit more expensive and to deter non-smokers.

Ross Patterson, 21, store manager of the Tonypandy branch of vape shop Blazing Vapourz, said business was "booming" and that the planned tax hike would be "quite easy" to deal with.

The company also has stores in Pontypool and Ponyclun, and is planning to open a fourth.

"Some days it will be flowing with footfall all day, some days it will be like a ghost town, you never really know up here," he said, adding that the shop takes roughly the same amount of money every day.

Mr Patterson said he would like to see taxes lowered because his family was struggling with the cost of living crisis.

"My mum has ended up in a bit of a bad state because she is worrying and stressing about all these taxes and bills. I think it's going to be a big help if they lower national insurance and cut tax charges," he said.

Mr Patterson said he would like to see Tonypandy become "a busier place", adding there were "more shops closing down than opening up".