Labour was under pressure to ‘come clean’ last night after a bombshell dossier laid out dramatic tax rise plans.
The Mail can reveal that proposals put forward by a group of party MPs – whose members include Sir Keir Starmer – suggested six raids to raise £60 billion.
These included hiking inheritance and capital gains taxes, imposing a ‘jackpot’ levy on extreme wealth and introducing council tax reforms which could see families’ bills double.
The plan also proposed forcing working pensioners to pay National Insurance.
Senior Tories said the dossier undermined the Labour leader’s claim that he has ‘no plans’ for further tax rises if he wins next month’s election.
But Labour insisted that Sir Keir had ‘nothing to do with’ the manifesto submission by the Tribune group of Labour MPs, of which he is a member.
A spokesman said the document submitted to the National Policy Forum had been rejected and described Tory criticism of it as ‘desperate’.
They added: ‘None of this is Labour policy. The Tories are the party of high taxes. Labour will ensure taxes on working people are as low as possible.’
But Treasury chief secretary Laura Trott said the ‘shocking’ plan showed that Labour was ‘actively considering a series of damaging tax rises’ to fill a huge black hole in its plans.
‘After spending the whole campaign failing to rule out these tax rises, it’s clear from this document that their plan all along has been to raise taxes across the board,’ she said.
‘It’s now time for the Labour Party to come clean with the public: which taxes are they planning to raise?’
The revelation came as Sir Keir suggested that Labour’s pledge not to raise taxes on ‘working people’ did not cover those with savings.
Defining the group for the first time, he told LBC Radio: ‘The person I have in my mind when I say working people is people who earn their living, rely on our services and don’t really have the ability to write a cheque when they get into trouble.’
Writing in the Mail today, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says: ‘Savers, pay attention. Labour has you in their sights. If Keir Starmer walks into Downing Street on July 5, get ready for your taxes to go up.’
Meanwhile Rishi Sunak said the Conservatives would make it a ‘moral mission’ to reduce taxes in the next Parliament as he confirmed plans for £17 billion of tax cuts.
The tax row came as:
- Sir Keir hinted he would have served in Jeremy Corbyn’s Cabinet if Labour had won the last election;
- A major poll suggested the Tories could be reduced to a rump of just 115 seats;
- Sir Keir admitted more than 100,000 children with special needs will be hit by his plan to impose VAT on private schools;
- Labour said it would order the NHS to buy up social care places to ease bed-blocking in hospitals;
- Nigel Farage threatened legal action against a firm employed to vet Reform Party candidates after a string of individuals were found to hold extreme views.
Labour’s manifesto contains proposals for tax rises of £8.5 billion focused mainly on big business, the rich and private schools. The party has also said it will not increase the headline rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT.
But senior figures have refused to say whether levies such as capital gains tax, council tax and fuel duty could be raised – saying only that they have ‘no plans’ to do so.
The Mail can reveal that the powerful Tribune group of Labour MPs did draw up plans for a string of tax rises last year.
The group is home to dozens of ‘soft-Left’ MPs including Sir Keir, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper and foreign spokesman David Lammy.
In its submission to the Labour manifesto process, the group said: ‘Tax rises are inevitable over the coming decade, whoever is in power, and the key question is, who will pay?’
A disclaimer said the ideas ‘do not represent specific policy positions’ of the group but are ‘consistent’ with party values.
Labour dismissed the document, saying it had been rejected at an early stage in the manifesto process.
A spokesman said the party was committed to keeping taxes on ‘working people’ as low as possible, adding: ‘The British public have a choice – better off under Labour, decline under these desperate Tories.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
