Keir Starmer issues a doom-laden warning to Britons that they’ll be clobbered with new Labour taxes on Wednesday because of the ‘harsh fiscal reality’_Nhy
Keir Starmer today admitted there is ‘tough stuff’ coming in the Budget as the demanded Brits face up to ‘harsh reality’.
The PM used a speech this morning to lay the ground for Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘ extraordinary £35billion a year raid on Wednesday.
He appealed for voters to give Labour time to ‘rebuild the foundations’ despite the brutal assault on their pockets. In one specific announcement, he confirmed that the £2 cap on bus fares will rise to £3.
But despite the package looking set to be one of the biggest revenue-raisers on record, Sir Keir also refused to rule out the government coming back to milk more cash.
Critics have dismissed claims from ministers that ordinary ‘working people’ will not see the impact in payslips, because most of the pain will be initially targeted at businesses and the wealthier.
The Labour election manifesto used the term as it laid out who would be protected from increases.
But Sir Keir sparked fury last week by suggesting landlords, shareholders and savers did not count.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson struggled yesterday on whether small business owners making just £13,000 a year were ‘working people’.
And the premier said this morning that ‘the working people of this country know exactly who they are’, saying the government would operate in their ‘service’.
A major increase to employers’ national insurance contributions looks set to be the centrepiece of the big post-election package.
There are also expected to be attacks on inheritance tax, capital gains and pension pots.
Keir Starmer will today demand Brits face up to ‘harsh reality’ ahead of looming tax hikes in the Budget
The Chancellor’s package is expected to push the tax burden to a new high
In his speech in the West Midlands this morning, Sir Keir will say: ‘We have to be realistic about where we are as a country. This is not 1997, when the economy was decent but public services were on their knees.
‘And it’s not 2010, where public services were strong, but the public finances were weak. These are unprecedented circumstances.
‘And that’s before we even get to the long-term challenges ignored for 14 years: an economy riddled with weakness on productivity and investment, a state that needs urgent modernisation to face down the challenge of a volatile world.’
The PM will deny he is using the UK’s problems as ‘an excuse’, despite repeatedly putting the blame on the Tories.
‘Politics is always a choice. It’s time to choose a clear path, and embrace the harsh light of fiscal reality so we can come together behind a credible, long-term plan,’ he will say.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told Times Radio that the Government ‘levelled with people’ before the Budget.
‘There’s no point in telling people everything’s absolutely fine when the prison system is in a state of collapse, when NHS waiting lists are at a record high, when we’ve got crumbling schools,’ he said.
‘There’s so much that’s wrong that we’ve got to fix and it’s important to set that out honestly and candidly for the public.’
He added: ‘I think we’ll have the most honest Budget on Wednesday that we’ve had for some years.’
NICs is charged at different rates for employers, employees and the self-employed
Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves together at the Labour conference last year
