Keir Starmer unveiled Labour’s manifesto with £8.5billion of tax rises today – as the Tories warned he is plotting even bigger raids.
Sir Keir hailed the key document at a glitzy event in Manchester, insisting it showed his party had moved on from ‘dead end gesture politics’ under Jeremy Corbyn and was ready for government.
With polls putting the party on track for a landslide, the content was billed as ‘safety first’ – including an NHS overhaul, ‘nanny state’ moves on junk food and a Net Zero drive.
But details show that Labour is proposing to raise £8.5billion in extra revenue, from policies such as VAT on private school fees, ending ‘Non Dom’ status, increasing stamp duty for foreign buyers and a bigger windfall tax on the oil and gas industry.
The Tories said Labour’s own plans implied the burden rising to 37.4 per cent of GDP – the highest in history.
However, they also warned of a ‘tax trap’, pointing out that although the document does not rule out council tax revaluation, raids on capital gains tax or unfreezing fuel duty.
The increases being openly mooted contrast to the £17billion of tax cuts proposed by Mr Sunak in the Conservative manifesto earlier in the week.
After seeing the start of his speech disrupted by a climate protester, Sir Keir said it was now ‘time to change Britain’.
He insisted the UK was ‘still a great nation’, but it had lacked a ‘government that can match the ambition working people have’.
Sir Keir sought to make a virtue of his boring image, as he swiped at Nigel Farage‘s brand of politics. ‘If you want politics as pantomime, I hear Clacton is nice this time of year.’
Asked why there were no policies that had not been announced previously, he said: ‘I’m running as a candidate to be Prime Minister, not a candidate to run the circus.’
The Labour leader was riding high after being seen as coming out on top in a crucial TV showdown with Rishi Sunak last night.
In contrast to the Tory offering on Tuesday – which had no photos at all – Labour’s manifesto features 33 images of the leader.
Keir Starmer is facing fresh warnings of a Labour tax raid today after he launched the election manifesto
Sir Keir hailed the key document at a glitzy event in Manchester
Sir Keir insisted the UK was ‘still a great nation’, but it had lacked a ‘government that can match the ambition working people have’
A woman interrupted Sir Keir as he began laying out the plans, forcing him to stop speaking as she shouted about climate issues
Sir Keir was embraced by Labour figures including Sadiq Khan after his speech today
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