A Treasury minister is criticised after saying employers are not 'working people'
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds told GB News that she does not think employers are 'working people', saying 'they are companies'. Opposition politicians and business owners criticised the remark.
Left 0 · Centre-left 1 · Centre 0 · Centre-right 1 · Right 5
Blindspot for the left (barely covered by left-leaning outlets)
ContextSources by leanVideoDeep diveFollow the moneyMore coverage
How each side framed it
Left-leaning outlets
'Treasury minister criticised for suggesting employers are not ‘working people’' (The Independent), the only left-rated outlet in the sample.
Centre outlets
No least-biased (centre) outlet in our sample covered it.
Right-leaning outlets
A gaffe and business anger: 'Labour minister claims employers are 'not working people' in car crash interview' (Daily Express); ''So insulting!' Small business owner HITS BACK at Labour minister' (GB News).
Context
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Sources by lean
Balanced: the same number of articles from the left, the centre and the right (up to 3 each). The bar above still counts every rated outlet we found. Bias and factual ratings come from Media Bias/Fact Check. How we balance · All ratings.
Left 1
Centre 0
No centre coverage found — blindspot
Right 1
Showing 1 from left and right of 7 rated outlets (L 1 / C 0 / R 6). Capped at 1 because that is all we found on the thinnest side. More coverage
Video
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Deep dive
A short prompt for thinking it through. We write a fuller side-by-side deep dive for the day's biggest stories.
The paradox: The row turns on the definition behind Labour's manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on 'working people', which both sides read differently.
What each side may be protecting: Left: the distinction between wage earners and firms in tax policy. Right: small business owners who see themselves as working people.
A question to hold: Shared question: should the manifesto's 'working people' pledge be defined in writing?
Try it: open one left and one right article in Sources by lean and note what each takes for granted.
Follow the money
Not yet researched. We haven't yet looked at who gains or loses financially from this story, or who funds the main voices on each side. When we do, we check company filings, the Electoral Commission donations register, lobbying registers, annual reports, InfluenceMap and OpenSecrets, and we apply the same checks to every side. How we follow the money.
Who owns or funds the outlets covering this story (8 outlets)
| Outlet | Lean | Ownership & funding (MBFC) |
|---|---|---|
| The Independent | Centre-left | The Independent is owned by Independent Print Limited, a company owned by the Lebedev family (Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev). In 2017, Saudi Businessman Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel bought a 30% stake in the Independent online newspaper. Advertising and subscription generate revenue for the paper..push({}); source |
| Evening Standard | Centre-right | The newspaper is majority-owned by Russian businessman and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev and the Daily Mail and General Trust. Revenue is generated through advertising. source |
| Daily Express | Right | The Daily Express is owned by Reach plc (formerly known as Trinity Mirror), a British newspaper, magazine, and digital publisher. Subscriptions, newsstand sales, and advertising generate revenue. source |
| Daily Mail | Right | The Daily Mail is published by Associated Newspapers Limited, part of Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT). DMGT is controlled by the Rothermere family and is 100% owned by Rothermere Continuation Limited. Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, serves as Chairman..push({}); DMGT became privately owned after delisting from the London Stock Exchange in 2022. source |
| GB News | Right | GB News lacks transparency as they do not disclose ownership. A search reveals that London-based ALL Perspectives Ltd owns GB News. According to Reuters, the television channel “secured millions of dollars from investors such as Discovery Inc, Legatum and hedge fund manager Paul Marshall. source |
| The Sun | Right | The Sun is published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. The paper generates revenue through advertising, newsstand sales, and subscriptions. source |
| The Telegraph | Right | Telegraph Media Group (TMG) owns The Telegraph, which is owned by Press Acquisitions Ltd., which in turn is owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay. In 2004, Twin Brothers Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay acquired the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph from the Canadian media company Hollinger Inc. for £665 million. For a complete list of Board members, see here. source |
| City A.M. | Not rated | No ownership data found |
Social pulse
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X: 139 posts matching “"Emma Reynolds" employers -is:retweet”
AI-generated summary of X posts, written by X. Not verified fact.
Labour Minister Faces Backlash for Saying Employers Aren't Working People
During a GB News interview, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds defended the government's Budget by stating employers are companies, not working people, amid accusations of breaking Labour's no-tax-rise pledge for employees. Small business owners, like Olympic medalist Sharron Davies and those working 60-hour weeks, called the remarks insulting and out of touch with the risks they take to employ staff. Conservatives, including Iain Duncan Smith, argued the comments reveal a misunderstanding of how taxing employers hurts jobs and wages, fueling debate over the Budget's £49bn tax measures.
Updated 2 Nov 06:07 UK time · View on X