Jeremy Hunt claims tax would be the ‘huge divide’ on the election
Jeremy Hunt will today warn that tax is set to be the ‘big divide’ at the election, as he pledges the burden ‘will go down’ if the Tories win another term.
In a major speech tomorrow morning, Mr Hunt will claim that Labour has a black hole in its spending plans – and warn that Sir Keir Starmer will have to raise taxes ‘as sure as night follows day’.
The Chancellor will release new Treasury analysis of Labour’s tax plans, which is expected to show they will be billions of pounds short of the funding they need to deliver their spending commitments.
Further doubts emerged last night when the shadow environment secretary Steve Reed acknowledged that the price tag for Sir Keir’s plan to create a publicly owned Great British Energy could cost more than £80billion.
Labour later said three-quarters of the cash would come from the private sector, but Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho said this would still leave the taxpayer with a £20billion bill — dwarfing Labour’s official estimate of £8billion.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will release new Treasury analysis of Labour’s tax plans, which is expected to show they will be billions of pounds short of the funding they need to deliver their spending commitments
Mr Hunt said: ‘Keir Starmer needs to urgently explain which taxes they would raise to pay for this. It’s clearer than ever that Labour do not have a plan’
‘Labour have admitted that one of their first ‘steps’ would not cost the taxpayer the £8billion they have previously claimed, but more than £20billion.
‘Keir Starmer needs to urgently explain which taxes they would raise to pay for this. It’s clearer than ever that Labour do not have a plan.’ Setting out the ‘big divide’ for the coming election, Mr Hunt will insist that only the Conservatives are committed to reducing the tax burden, which already stands at a post-War record and is set to rise further.
The Chancellor will acknowledge that the Government has had to raise taxes to pay for the cost of Covid and energy support schemes. But he will accuse Labour of hypocrisy for criticising tax rises needed to fund policies it had supported, such as the furlough scheme.
‘It is playground politics to use those tax rises to distract debate from the biggest divide in British politics, which is what happens next,’ he will say.
‘Conservatives recognise that whilst those tax rises may have been necessary, they should not be permanent. Labour do not.
‘We are prepared to do the hard work to bring taxes down because we know that doing so will lead to more growth for the economy and more prosperity for British families.’
Mr Hunt will point out that the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves failed to mention the tax burden during her Mais lecture, in which she set out her vision for the economy. Ms Reeves has said she wants to see lower taxes for ‘working people’ in the long term.
Mr Hunt will point out that the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves failed to mention the tax burden during her Mais lecture, in which she set out her vision for the economy. Ms Reeves has said she wants to see lower taxes for ‘working people’ in the long term
Labour yesterday insisted its policy pledges are ‘fully costed’. But new Treasury analysis today is expected to raise questions about whether their publicly acknowledged tax changes will raise as much as they claim.
Mr Reed last night raised concerns about the cost of Labour’s flagship energy plan. Trade unions have estimated the plan could cost £82billion over a decade.
Asked whether the estimate was accurate, Mr Reed told LBC Radio: ‘Well it may well be… this isn’t supposed to be a delivery plan for energy, this is just a first step.’
Labour last night stood by its costing of £8.3billion, saying that Mr Reed ‘misspoke’.
