A new poll showing exactly what voters think about the Labour Government’s tax raid plans has dealt a blow to Sir Keir Starmer.
Voters believe Labour was “not very honest” (24 percent) or “not honest at all” (31 percent) about the party’s policies on tax during the General Election, according to a BMG Research poll of 1,560 people commissioned by the i newspaper.
The poll shows only six percent believe the Prime Minister’s party was “very honest” with 28 percent saying it was “mostly honest”.
Sir Keir vowed not to raise taxes on working people ahead of the General Election in July, meaning Income Tax, National Insurance and VAT.
However, this week the Prime Minister failed to rule out what would become the first rise in fuel duty since 2010, telling reporters during a visit to Berlin he wouldn’t speculate on next month’s Budget, which he has already warned will be “painful”.
Sixty percent of those polled by BMG Research view a rise in fuel duty as a tax on working people, while 43 percent said they see a raising of inheritance tax in the same way.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves refused to rule out an inheritance tax hike on Wednesday, telling broadcasters during a visit to Scotland that she would be making “difficult” decisions in a range of areas.
Sir Keir’s warning over the Budget had a chilling effect on markets, with housebuilder shares sinking on Tuesday amid concerns the Prime Minister’s gloomy outlook for the country might give some households the jitters about taking on expensive mortgages.
The latest results of an Institute of Directors economic confidence index published on Sunday showed business confidence plummeting from +7 in July to -12 in August amid concerns over the autumn tax raid and Labour plans to strengthen workers’ rights.
In a speech in the Downing Street rose garden, the Prime Minister claimed his Government has done more in seven weeks than the Conservative government did in seven years.
But he warned “things are worse than we ever imagined” because of a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances, claiming to have found out last week that the Tories had borrowed almost £5billion more than the Office for Budget Responsibility expected.
Senior Conservative MPs have lined up to criticise Sir Keir, accusing the Prime Minister of talking the country down and not being honest with the British public.
Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly this week accused Sir Keir of “rolling out dishonest policies”.
He said: “The Conservatives left Labour with low inflation, falling migration, and the highest growth in the G7. Yet the Labour Government have waged war on pensioners, caved to their union paymasters and splurged millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on unaffordable pay rises for strikers.”
Former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel dismissed Sir Keir’s No 10 speech as “one of the most feeble, pitiful and dishonest speeches you will ever hear”.
Shadow Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said Ms Reeves’s attempt to blame her economic inheritance on her decision to raise taxes won’t wash with the public.
He added: “Reeves and Starmer have spent weeks talking down the economy, whilst simultaneously handing over billions in inflation busting pay rises for their union paymasters. It simply does not add up.
“Labour promised over 50 times in the election they would not raise people’s taxes and now they are laying the ground to do just that. We will hold them to account on their promises.”
