Labour to pledge no increase in ‘big three’ taxes in ‘triple lock’ promise

Published

5 months ago

June 9, 2024

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Labour will reportedly promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT for five years if the party wins the general election.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves already said this week they will not put up the taxes, ahead of Labour’s manifesto launch expected on Thursday.

But a report in The Sunday Times claims Labour will take their pledge further and vow to cast a “triple lock” on the “big three” taxes over the course of the first term in power.

It means Labour would need to make cuts or find other tax rises, if they win the election on 4 July.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned both the Tories and Labour their plans lock them into “sharp” spending cuts, with neither “serious about the underlying principle of getting debt falling”.

In its assessment of campaigning, the IFS said forecasts suggest whoever is the chancellor in the autumn will be “fortunate” to meet the fiscal rule of getting debt on a downward path between 2028/29 and 2029/30.

That’s an aim Labour and the Conservatives have both committed to.

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As the campaign rumbles on into a third week and the Tories announce new policies in a bid to narrow a chasm in the polls, Ms Reeves criticised the Conservatives for “fantasy” plans.

She accused the Tories of acting like Jeremy Corbyn, writing in The Sun: “The approach the Conservatives are taking now is the same as the approach Jeremy Corbyn took – and I totally reject it.

“I’m not going to offer you a fantasy manifesto that writes cheques we could never cash. I will never do this.”

The latest attack could risk angering the Labour left, who are keen to see greater spending commitments.

The Conservatives were quick to point out that Ms Reeves, an MP since 2010, will have campaigned twice for Mr Corbyn’s manifesto – at the 2017 and 2019 general elections.