The Prime Minister has declined to rule out not to standby Labour’s manifesto pledge to raise national insurance, income tax or VAT in the upcoming Autumn Budget.
Sir Keir Starmer said the government will “lay out plans” at the Budget on 26 November as he resorted back to the blame game accusing the Tories over a far worse than thought, of productivity forecasts from the fiscal watchdog.
Starmer has refused to extend the freeze on personal tax allowances which will see more workers paying income tax.
This has sparked concerns that Rachel Reeve’s November Budget will see eyewatering tax rises as the Chancellor tries to plug the multi-billion black hole.
Kemi Badenoch the Tory leader asked Starmer over him refusing to rule out increasing taxes on workers, she asked, “what’s changed in the past four months?”
Starmer said, “I can say this, Mr Speaker, because the figures on the productivity review that’s being undertaken, this is a judgment on their record in office.
“Those figures are now coming through, and they confirm that the Tories did even more damage to the economy than we previously thought.
“We will turn that around. We’ve already delivered the fastest growth in the G7 in the first half of this year. Five interest rate cuts in a row, trade deals with the US, EU and India.
“They broke the economy. We’re fixing it.”
Starmer claimed in the House of Commons that “retail sales are higher than expected, inflation is lower than expected, growth has been upgraded this year, and the UK stock market is at an all-time high”.
“The Budget is on November 26 and we will lay out our plans, but I can tell the House now that we will build a stronger economy, we will cut NHS waiting lists and deliver a better future for our country.”
Starmer was asked can he guarantee there will be no extension on the freeze of personal allowance threshold, he did not give an answer.
Badenoch said, “If you work, they tax you more. If you save, they tax you more. If you buy a home, they tax you more. None of these taxes were in the manifesto, which he had four years to prepare.
“He is raising taxes because he is too weak to control spending. He’s blaming us. He’s blaming the OBR. Last week, they were blaming Brexit.”
