Labour were ‘always planning’ a ‘great tax betrayal’, Jeremy Hunt said last night, after Rachel Reeves admitted she will hike rates in the autumn.
The former Chancellor rounded on his successor after she warned on Tuesday she ‘will have to raise taxes’ in her Budget on October 30.
During the election campaign, Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly claimed they had ‘no plans’ for tax rises beyond those outlined in Labour’s manifesto.
But, in a major U-turn this week, she claimed the real state of the public finances was so dire that a further tax raid in the Budget was inevitable.
‘They had a choice and they have chosen to raise your taxes,’ Mr Hunt said.
Rachel Reeves warned on Tuesday she ‘will have to raise taxes’ in her Budget on October 30 – drawing ire from her predecessor Jeremy Hunt
Mr Hunt said Labour had denied it would raise taxes 50 times during the election campaign, adding: ‘Decent people will be astonished at the speed at which Labour’s promise has been broken’
‘Instead of taking the difficult decisions needed to reform welfare, increase productivity and stand up to Labour’s union paymasters – the Chancellor will raise taxes right across the country.
‘Just as we warned – they were always planning to do this, they just didn’t have the courage to be honest about it.’
Writing in today’s Mail, Mr Hunt said Labour had denied it would raise taxes 50 times during the election campaign, adding: ‘Decent people will be astonished at the speed at which Labour’s promise has been broken’.
The former Chancellor also hit back at Ms Reeves’s claim that he had ‘lied’ about the state of the public finances to conceal a £22 billion ‘black hole’ in this year’s spending commitments.
‘If Labour plans to conduct arguments by presenting fictitious documents to parliament and shouting ‘liar’ at anyone who dares to disagree, that is a sinister step backwards for our democracy’.
Mr Hunt said Labour’s claim of a ‘black hole’ was contradicted by official government spending estimates presented to parliament last week, which were signed off by senior civil servants and which made no mention of a funding gap.
And he pointed out that the largest item in Ms Reeves’s dossier was a £9.4 billion commitment to fund inflation-busting pay rises for millions of public sector workers which she signed off herself without seeking productivity improvements in return.
‘Rachel Reeves has notched up spending commitments of around £1 billion pounds for every day she has been in office,’ he said.
Change of tune: During the election campaign, Ms Reeves set out only a small number of tax rises, such as putting VAT on private school fees, increasing the windfall tax on the energy giants and tightening restrictions on so-called non doms
‘She has chosen to add to the financial pressures she faces. And that can only mean one thing: tax rises.’
During the election campaign, Ms Reeves set out only a small number of tax rises, such as putting VAT on private school fees, increasing the windfall tax on the energy giants and tightening restrictions on so-called non doms.
But speaking to the News Agents podcast this week, she said she had to ‘fix the mess that we’ve inherited’, adding: ‘I think that we will have to increase taxes in the Budget.’
Ms Reeves refused to rule out increasing capital gains tax or inheritance tax, or slashing pensions tax relief.
She said she stood by Labour’s manifesto commitment not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT, adding: ‘We stick by everything in our manifesto.
‘But I’m not going to start to write a Budget (now)’.
Meanwhile, the Chancellor faced a growing backlash over her decision to means-test the winter fuel allowance, robbing 10 million pensioners of a benefit worth up to £300 a year.
Campaigners have warned it will leave many elderly people forced to choose between ‘heating and eating’ this winter.
Ms Reeves said the ‘tough’ decision, which will save £1.5 billion, was needed to help fill the ‘black hole’ filled by the previous government.
Only those who qualify for Pension Credit, which means that anyone with an income of more than £11,344 a year will lose out.
Former Labour frontbencher Diane Abbott yesterday claimed Ms Reeves had always planned to axe the payment to pensioners.
Labour’s manifesto made no commitment to retaining the payment as a universal benefit, but during the election campaign, the party insisted it had ‘no plans’ to introduce means-testing.
Ms Abbott said it was ‘unsurprising that Rachel Reeves has cut winter fuel benefits and refuses to lift the two-child limit’, adding: ‘She has long believed in cracking down on welfare’.
