Why I used to feel sorry for Rachel Reeves - and why I don't anymore

To paraphrase Arthur Daley from 1980s hit series Minder, Rachel Reeves is to economic growth and enterprise what veruccas are to swimming pools. A disaster. I used to feel sorry for Rachel from Accounts given that she is so out of her depth. Now, that sympathy has turned to anger as I see her destroying jobs, businesses, wealth and - ultimately - the entire UK economy which has taken centuries to build up.

Her latest delusion is that she's making everyone richer by increasing the national minimum wage. Pay rises are no longer earned in the UK, they are treated as a birthright -irrespective of the performance of the company or the employee.

That's the trade union mentality that this government lives by. Indeed, Reeves announced the higher minimum wage levels with such pride and gusto that you could be forgiven for thinking that she was paying these higher wages out of her own pocket.

Of course, she was merely putting her hands once again in other people's pockets and forcing businesses to shell out money they can no longer afford.

The increase in the minimum wage will, of course, lead to higher wages for those who are lucky enough to remain in a job. But it will also mean that a higher number of people will lose their jobs and even more - particularly young people - will miss out on the chance of employment altogether. That is the brutal truth that socialists dare not admit.

This higher minimum wage comes on top of her crippling £25billion increase in employer National Insurance contributions. The upshot has been unemployment has gone up every month since Labour has been in office - shops are closing, businesses are going under - Pizza Hut being the latest big high street name to close restaurants and file for administration.

So in the climate of businesses struggling to keep going, who on earth other than an utter fool would think it sensible to pile on even more costs on companies?

There is no wonder that former Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King described Reeves' tax policies as incoherent and like something "written on the back of a fag packet". He also launched a scathing attack on Labour's latest plans for a Mansion Tax on properties worth over £2m.

Such a mansion tax would gum up the top end of the housing market, affecting the rest of the chain. It would hammer asset-rich and cash-poor people - showing Labour have learned absolutely nothing from their unpopular Family Farm Tax.

It would also need a full property revaluation which would cost the public a fortune and no doubt it would be used as an excuse to hike up everyone's council tax bills. If Rachel from Accounts carries on as she is, the sad fact is that more and more people will follow the Arthur Daley blueprint of ducking and diving - and not paying their taxes - just in order to survive.