Rather be on holiday already? Starmer is flanked by glum ministers at last PMQs before summer break as he dodges on fears of MORE tax hikes

Daily Mail​

5 days ago

Keir Starmer desperately dodged on fears of more tax hikes today at the last PMQs before the summer break.
Flanked by glum ministers including Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner, Sir Keir was pressed to spell out who will be protected from efforts to fill an estimated £30billion hole in the public finances.
He suggested that working people who could not use 'savings' to bail themselves out, but refused to 'write the Budget ' months in advance.
The government's woes deepened today as inflation unexpectedly rose, while there are signs the economy is slowing down.
Kicking off hostilities in the chamber, Kemi Badenoch said: 'It's the end of term, so why don't we go through his end-of-term scorecard? The economy is contracting; inflation, highest in the G7; unemployment up every month under this Government; spending out of control, borrowing costs more expensive than Greece, and this is just the first year.'
She also told MPs: 'The fact is, this summer, they're going to have to go to their constituents and explain why they've been making such a mess over the last 12 months.
'And isn't (it) the case that the worst – given that this is just their first year – the worst is yet to come?'
Sir Keir insisted Labour MPs would 'happily' face their constituents during the summer recess and the government was only 'getting started'.
Mrs Badenoch accused Sir Keir of 'not getting it' added: 'His budget last year had high taxes. That's why the economy is contracting.'
'The Government has said that they won't put up taxes for people on modest incomes, but they also seem incapable of explaining who is in that category,' she said.
'So can the Prime Minister clear up the confusion and tell us what he thinks a modest income is?'
Sir Keir replied: 'I think of the working people across this country who put in every day and don't get back what they deserve, and that's who we're working for. That's who we're fixing the country (for).
'The sort of people that work hard but haven't necessarily got the savings to buy themselves out of problems.'
Mrs Badenoch said the Government is 'considering taxing' pension contributions and asked: 'Does the Prime Minister agree with me that a tax on pension contributions is a tax on working people?'
The Prime Minister described his party's manifesto commitments made last year as 'absolutely clear' and said: 'I'm not going to write the budget months out.'
A Conservative spokesman later said: 'Labour won't rule out hitting the self-employed with new taxes.
'They won't rule out a tax raid on pensions. And the Prime Minister says 'modest incomes' refers to anyone without savings, raising the prospect of a tax on savings in the autumn. Labour are treating working people with contempt.
'Hiking taxes is not inevitable – it is a choice brought on by the Government's economic incompetence.'
Experts have warned that the stalling economy together with spending pressures could mean the Chancellor has a £31billion funding gap.
The tax burden is already set to hit a new high as a proportion of GDP after the last Budget imposed a £41billion increase - the biggest on record for a single package.
Many believe the Chancellor will opt to extend the long-running freeze on tax thresholds.
The policy, in place since 2022, is due to end in 2028-29. By that point it will have dragged an extra 4.2million people into the tax system as wages rise.
Speculation has been mounting about a 'wealth tax' - something Labour MPs have been baying for despite alarm at signs of an exodus of the rich from Britain.
Downing Street has refused to rule out a wealth tax, although Ms Reeves previously said she was 'not interested' in the idea.