Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said "it is important that politicians stick to their word" but refused 12 times to recommit to Labour's manifesto tax pledges during a Sky News interview at the G20 summit in South Africa. The contradiction comes days before Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers a Budget on November 26 expected to raise taxes on working people to bridge a multi-billion-pound gap in spending plans.
Asked whether leaders should maintain pledges, Starmer told Sky News: «Yes, it is important that politicians stick to their word.» He added that «we've obviously got big decisions to make in the Budget» against «a very difficult backdrop».
The Prime Minister evaded questions on whether Labour's pre-election pledge to voters would be broken, despite multiple follow-ups including on whether income tax thresholds will be frozen. The Conservatives argue an extension of the freeze would breach Labour's manifesto promise not to hit working people with extra tax.
PMQs Challenge
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pressed Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday to «confirm today that he will not break another promise by freezing income tax thresholds». Recent reports suggest Reeves might extend income tax threshold freezes for two additional years beyond the current April 2028 end date.
Labour's 2024 manifesto pledged: «Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.» The pledge does not explicitly mention thresholds.
Reeves said in her 2024 budget speech: «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.»
Chancellor's Challenges
The Chancellor suffered a blow on Friday as official figures showed government borrowing was £3 billion higher in October than the Office for Budget Responsibility had expected. Personal tax thresholds have been frozen since April 2022 under the previous Conservative government.
Reeves told The Times Magazine that Britain cannot continue to «muddle through» and must take «a different path» on the economy. She said: «Borrowing is too high, but you can't cut it overnight. Public services are a mess, but we haven't got loads of money to throw at them and we have to use what we've got well. We can't just carry on like this and muddle through. We have to make some decisions to get on a different path.»
The Chancellor also hit out at critics, saying she was «sick of people mansplaining how to be Chancellor to me». Suggesting some criticism was motivated by sexism from «boys who now write newspaper columns», she said: «I recognise that I've got a target on me. You can see that in the media; they're going for me all the time. It's exhausting. But I'm not going to let them bring me down by undermining my character or my confidence. I've seen off a lot of those boys before and I'll continue to do so.»
A Treasury spokesperson stated: «We do not comment on speculation around changes to tax outside of fiscal events. The Chancellor will deliver a Budget that takes the fair choices to build strong foundations to secure Britain's future.»
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
