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Minister admits tax rise hits working people – but furiously denies manifesto breach
The tax burden is hitting a record high under Labour, but chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones has told us that the choice was “either to cut public services by tens of billions of pounds” or going to “tax whilst honouring your promises in the manifesto to working people”.
He said the Tories borrowed to pay for day-to-day spending, which is “not a sustainable path for public finances”.
Given that independent experts have said unequivocally that the rise in employers’ national insurance will be, in large part, passed on to workers, Sky’s Wilfred Frost challenged the minister on if Labour has broken its pledge not to raise taxes on working people.
But in a fiery exchange, Mr Jones insisted that because “the Treasury, which sets tax rates, is not increasing the rates of tax on working people”, his party has not broken its manifesto pledge.
He said they “recognise” that the Office for Budget Responsibility has said that “in future years, wage growth may become lower as a consequence of employers having to pay more”.
And pushed by Wilfred Frost, he admitted that “yes”, the tax rise will hit working people – but insisted that it is not a manifesto breach.
Their promise was not raise taxes on people who “go to work and get a payslip”, which is “a promise that we have honoured”.
Pushed again, Mr Jones said: “Look, we can have a debate about the plain English assessment of our manifesto. I helped write the thing.
“I’m telling you the meaning behind the words. I’m telling you the explanation of the plain English way in which it’s been drafted, and we can have a debate about how you’ve interpreted it.
“But I can tell you, as one of the authors of the manifesto, that the commitment was not to increase the tax rates on working people. That is a promise that by fact we have honoured at this budget.”
Asked finally if the government takes responsibility for what happens to the economy now, Mr Jones replied: “Absolutely. And we take responsibility for this budget because we were elected on a mandate of change.”