In a speech setting out the Labour vision for government, party leader Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at Conservative leadership contenders, accusing them of “nauseating” hypocrisy around their plans for the economy.
Sir Keir was referring to those among the 11 contenders to-date who have promised tax cuts should they become Tory leader, despite backing tax increases under Boris Johnson’s premiership.
The Labour leader said that the hopefuls were entering an “arms race of fantasy economics”, pointing out that they had made £200 billion worth of spending pledges and tax cuts and had not set out how these would be funded.
Speaking on Monday afternoon, Sir Keir said: “I cannot believe what we are hearing from the candidates to be the next Tory leader. The Tory leadership race hasn't even officially begun yet but the arms race of fantasy economics is well under way."
Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt, two former cabinet ministers, have said that they will scrap next year’s planned corporation tax rise and reduce the rate to 15 per cent, while foreign secretary Liz Truss and backbencher Tom Tugendhat have promised to reverse the National Insurance hike.
Although many of the Tory leadership candidates are promising tax cuts like these, they are yet to reveal their policy funding plans.
In contrast, Sir Keir told reporters that Labour would “deliver a fresh start” for the UK and be “honest about how we fund every single thing we promise.”
While Sir Keir stopped short of saying whether or not he would reverse the National Insurance increase and he did not outline his income tax and corporation tax policies, he talked up the need to get the UK economy moving on a positive trajectory and said that Labour would “fight the next election on economic growth.”
To bolster “wealth creation”, Sir Keir added that Labour envisioned being able to “make and sell more in Britain”, and planned to invest £28 billion each year on moving the country into the green economy.
He also promised to reform the Northern Ireland Protocol, adding to his earlier promise to “make Brexit work” for the UK economy and not seek to return to the EU.
Elsewhere on Monday afternoon, outgoing PM Boris Johnson remained tight-lipped over endorsing any of the 11 contenders to succeed him.
Johnson said that he would spend his final weeks as prime minister delivering on the "programme we were elected on", insisting that it was "not the job of the prime minister at this stage" to comment on who might be next to occupy Number 10.
He said: "The job of the prime minister at this stage is to let the party decide, let them get on with it and to continue delivering on the projects that we were elected to deliver.
"I know that whatever happens and whoever takes over, there is a great, great agenda to be continued."
Photo by By Rwendland - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 on Wikimedia Commons
