Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was a rather illuminating session. Tory party leader Kemi Badenoch will be rather pleased at the news headlines her line of questioning has generated, after she repeatedly quizzed Sir Keir Starmer on his government’s tax pledges. While he gave an uncharacteristically direct response to her first query – stating that ‘yes’, he stands by his manifesto commitments not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT – he was much less clear on Badenoch’s follow up.
‘The Chancellor promised that she would lift the freeze on income tax and national insurance thresholds because, in her words, they hurt working people,’ Badenoch told the Commons. The Conservative party leader is referring to a speech in which Rachel Reeves insisted:
I have come to the conclusion that extending the threshold freeze would hurt working people. It would take more money out of their payslips. I am keeping every single promise on tax that I made in our manifesto, so there will be no extension of the freeze in income tax and national insurance thresholds beyond the decisions made by the previous government.
How curious. Badenoch thought so too, going on to press Starmer: ‘Is that still government policy?’ In a much wordier response, the PM replied: ‘No Prime Minister or Chancellor is going to write a budget in advance. We are absolutely fixed on our fiscal rules. We remain committed to our manifesto commitments.’ It’s not quite answering her question, however…
Will Starmer end up extending the stealth tax in his government’s autumn budget? Watch this space…
Watch the clip here:
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