Boris Johnson has said he and Rishi Sunak are “tax-cutting Conservatives”, despite taxes set to rise to their highest level since the 1940s.
Speaking during PMQs on Wednesday, Keir Starmer accused the government of a “cynical” plan to raise taxes before introducing a small tax cut shortly before the next election.
“That is not taking difficult decisions, it’s putting the Tory re-election campaign over and above helping people pay their bills,” the Labour leader said.
Sunak has promised to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20 to 19 pence in the pound before the end of the current parliament in 2024.
But in the wake of the chancellor’s spring statement mini-Budget last week, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the overall tax burden would be the highest since the late 1940s under Clement Attlee’s post-war government.
And the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) accused the chancellor of being a “fiscal illusionist” who highlighted some tax cuts while actually letting the level of tax rise as a whole.
Starmer told Johnson to “cut the nonsense”, and said the government was giving £1 back for every £6 taken in taxes over “15 taxes rises, the highest tax burden for 70 years”.
He asked: “Does the prime minister still think that he and the chancellor are tax-cutting Conservatives?”
Johnson replied:“Yes, Mr Speaker. I certainly do.
“This is the government that has just introduced not only the biggest cut in fuel duty ever, but the biggest cut in tax for working people in the last 10 years – 70% of the population paying national insurance contributions will have a substantial tax cut as a result of what the chancellor did.”
As part of the spring statement, the threshold for paying National Insurance will increase by £3,000 from July - a tax cut for employees worth over £330 a year.
Fuel duty was cut by 5 pence per litre until March next year. The Treasury said over the next 12-months the average car drive would save £100, the average van driver would save £200 and the average haulier would save £1,500.