A cancer patient has given her damning verdict on Rishi Sunak’s promise to slash taxes.
We polled 100 people around the UK on what was more important: tax cuts or better investment in public services. Our reporters spoke to ordinary people up and down the UK, receiving a mix of responses.
But Jane Barrow, a cancer patient, from Portobello in Edinburgh, was unequivocal that the Tory leader’s decision to prioritise tax cuts would leave the country worse off.
Quizzed on what mattered most, she said: “Investment into public services without a shadow of a doubt. I don’t earn a lot of money. I’ve got cancer. But I absolutely would pay more so that everybody gets benefit.
“Because I believe in socialist values and I believe you should all look after each other and you have to pay for that. These things cost money. But if we all club together like society is meant to then you can hopefully look after each other.”
Rishi Sunak used last week’s Tory manifesto launch to promise a total £17bn of tax cuts if his party are re-elected, including a reduction in National Insurance Contributions .
He also made unsubstantiated claims that a Labour government would put up taxes by £2,000 per household, suggestions which Keir Starmer has dismissed as ‘lies’ and which government civil servants have refused to endorse.
As part of the 5000 Voices project, which is reaching out across the UK during the 2024 General Election campaign, our reporters asked voters what mattered most – an immediate tax cut or shoring up the public services they used.
While many people said they’d welcome tax cuts, a clear theme to emerge was that many see investing in the NHS and hard-hit local services as a priority.
“The money has to come from somewhere… everything is falling apart”
Jenny Morgan, a retired resident in Dorking, said: “Public services. Because we need help to repair what’s falling apart at the moment – whether it’s the welfare state, the NHS, whether it’s the care system, whether it’s roads, everything is falling apart.
“Cutting taxes is all very well but the money has got to come from somewhere and as far as I’m concered taxes are something that are just part of life. You have to pay your taxes.”
“And all this talk about cutting national insurance, I feel well if they’re going to cut that then how’s that going to help the health service.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Elina Leventaki, 27, a research executive, who said: “There seems to be some, a very small proportion of the population hoarding generational wealth and wealth they cannot possibly use within a lifetime.
“Whereas, there’s people that are having to choose between rent, or bills or food or having winter warmth.”
But John Tei, 58, also from Dorking, disagreed, saying: “Tax, trust me. Tax, it’s more important.”
In the north of England, where Labour hope to regain control of ‘Red Wall’ seats, voters were torn between saving money on their tax bill and improving health care.
One woman in the Lancashire town of Ramsbottom told our reporter: “Well I think they should do more for the health service instead of people waiting for ages.”
“I’ve paid tax from being 15”
Another woman, a pensioner from Bury, Greater Manchester, said: “We worked all our lives and we’re still being taxed. I’ve paid tax from being 15.”
One man in Hull said: “I suppose I’d class myself as middle class, we can probably take a bit more of a hit, but a difficult one: we need both.”
Much of the General Election campaign so far has seen the two main parties trade blows over taxation and the affordability of their plans. The PM vowed to lower the NI paid by workers if he was returned to Number 10, and claims he would abolish NI paid by self-employed people by 2029.
However, Tory claims that they could balance the shortfall by reducing the welfare bill by £12bn and closing tax avoidance loopholes have baffled some financial experts. The head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies said he was doubtful about the ‘uncertain, unspecific’ savings.
Labour shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves also gave a withering verdict, describing Mr Sunak as a ‘cosplay Liz Truss’ and claiming more ‘unfunded cuts’ would risk yet another mortgage crisis.
5000 Voices reporting team: Nicholas Malizia, Andrew Spence, Michal Grant, Adam Foster, Emma Butterworth, Mary Bradshaw, PJ Lynch, Charlie Elliman, Oliver Castle.