Labour slides further behind Reform in poll after disastrous spell for Keir Starmer with fears Brits are about to be hammered by tax hikes
Sir Keir Starmer had reduced the deficit with Nigel Farage 's party to two points with YouGov, but that gap has widened again as speculation grows that Rachel Reeves will use the Budget to increase taxes for millions of Britons.
Ministers are also being coy over whether a specific 'wealth tax' - demanded by hard left backbenchers - might be introduced.
Reform is on 28 per cent, up two, and Labour is on 22 per cent (-2) after a week in which Sir Keir also unveiled plans for a one in, one out migrant deal with France.
The agreement, made with much fanfare during a state visit by Emmanuel Macron, will see the UK take one migrant from France with links to Britain for every small boat arrival sent back across the Channel.
However, reports suggest the pilot scheme will as few as 50 per week, raising questions about whether it will provide a deterrent to the thousands making the journey.
Labour's tax shambles deepened today as a minister suggested only those on 'average incomes' will be protected from looming hikes.
Roads minister Lilian Greenwood appeared to commit to protecting those on incomes of up to £39,000 from desperate efforts to fill a black hole in the public finances.
But she gave another strong hint that the 'wealthy' will be hammered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves - saying the government thought those with the 'broadest shoulders' should pay.
The comments came as Ms Greenwood was grilled over Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander's claim on Sunday that those on 'modest incomes' would be spared pain.
She told Sky News: 'I think it means people who earn kind of around average income.'
Challenged that was roughly £39,000 a year, she added: 'I can't tell you exactly what the Transport Secretary had in her mind when she said that, but our promise when we came in was that we wouldn't hit working people with increases in employee national insurance, in income tax or VAT, and we've absolutely stuck to those promises.'
Pressed that she seemed to be saying there was a wealth tax coming, Ms Greenwood replied: 'Well these are decisions for the Chancellor, but clearly we've always said that we think those who've got the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden.'
Yesterday Ms Reeves pointedly only committed to holding rates on 'taxes that working people pay'.
Visiting a school in Wigan, she suggested that just meant no change to income tax, employee national insurance and VAT as she struggles to fill an estimated £30billion black hole.
But pushed on Labour demands for a 'wealth tax', Ms Reeves said: 'We haven't even set the date for the budget yet, so please forgive me if I don't speculate about what might happen at an event we haven't even decided a date on yet.'
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Telegraph
36 minutes ago
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Telegraph
37 minutes ago
- Telegraph
This was too little, too late from the ‘iron' Chancellor
There will be a round of deregulation. Lending rules will be relaxed. And new listings will be accelerated. Rachel Reeves did everything she could in her Mansion House speech this evening to win back the City. From any other Chancellor it might have been greeted with loud applause. From this one, however, it will be dead on arrival. The relationship with finance is irretrievably broken – and is too late to win it back now. The bankers and brokers listening to Reeves this evening will like much of what she had to say. The relaxation of lending rules will be welcomed, even if it is questionable whether the British housing market needs yet more debt instead of more supply. Easing some red tape is always helpful, and something needs to be done to encourage more new listings. In reality, however, Labour's relationship with business is now broken beyond repair. When Reeves took office there was plenty of goodwill. Business was ready for a change of 14 years of a Conservative government that seemed more and more chaotic with every year that passed. She even had one or two ideas that sounded good, even if they were thin on detail. By now, however, the City feels completely betrayed. The assault on non-doms has driven wealthy clients out of the country, and many successful entrepreneurs as well, with nothing to replace them. The steep rise in employers' National Insurance has drained money out of companies, and hit profits and dividends. Her changes to inheritance tax have hammered not just farmers but every privately owned business, and many of those are still crucial to the economy. The extra employment rights might please the unions but they could be ruinous for the City. The list goes on and on. Business was told that Reeves was a pro-growth, pro-enterprise Chancellor. Instead she has led an assault on the private sector with no parallel in recent British history. It looks as if it will only get worse over the next year. We all know that there will be another huge round of tax rises in the autumn, and business may well bear the brunt of that. It could be higher business rates, a windfall tax on the banks or utilities, or even a 'temporary' surcharge on corporation tax, similar to the levy imposed in France earlier this year. Likewise, the plutocrats of the Square Mile are likely to be squeezed for extra tax revenue. We may well see a return of the 50 per cent top rate of tax. Or, even worse, a wealth tax, catastrophic for the City where £10 million is regarded as a respectable annual bonus, and not an obscene fortune to be taxed away. Sure, a few reforms are worth having. And it is good that Reeves recognises how crucial the City and financial services are to the British economy, even if many of the Left-wingers on her backbenchers won't agree with her. Finance has always been one of the key drivers of growth, as well as generating huge tax revenues. But the blunt truth is this. Reeves has lost the trust of the City. And no matter how hard she tries, it's surely gone forever.
