Just one in five voters approve of Reeves breaking manifesto tax pledge at Budget, new poll shows

Only a fifth of voters support Rachel Reeves’ plans to break Labor’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people, new polling shows – even though they accept it is in the country’s best interests.

But it also shows that the political damage caused by raising income taxes can be offset if it is paired with a positive vision of change, such as higher taxes on the rich and clear, achievable targets for improving public services.

A new report from cross-party think tank Demos Independent, It showed that only 20 percent of the public believe it is acceptable for the government to break its promises on taxes, even if that is what the country needs.

Supporters of reform hold this view particularly strongly; 67 percent say it is unacceptable, while only 12 percent say it is acceptable. But Labor supporters are split on the issue, with 38 per cent on both sides.

comes later Times The Chancellor has told the Budget watchdog that he plans to raise income tax as he tries to repair Britain’s battered public finances.

Ms Reeves is reportedly considering a 2p increase in income tax, as well as a 2p cut in national insurance; It’s a move that could raise more than £6bn a year in revenue, as part of an attempt to shift the burden of the increase from workers to other groups such as pensioners and homeowners.

In a major speech last week, the chancellor warned the country of major tax rises in his budget and warned that “we must all contribute” to building a new future for Britain.

The chancellor, who has vowed to put the national interest above “political interests”, has signaled he is ready to break Labour’s manifesto pledge not to increase income tax, personal national insurance or VAT.

The Demos report, based on a survey of 2,000 people, says that “although the act of reneging is viewed very badly by the public in theory, in practice the public may not feel so pessimistic about it.”

He argues that consent to a broad-based tax increase could be better achieved if it were combined with “reforms to tackle tax advantages over those working for landlords, partners and investors, to ensure that high-value properties pay a fair share, and to properly tax the social harms of gambling”, as well as to send “a clear message about what impact the income will have on the country and people’s lives, the policies and actions that will enable this, and the accountability the government will impose on itself to ensure change occurs”.

The report adds: “The public wants vision and conviction from politicians. Risk aversion and political paralysis mean that voters’ voices go unheard because the political system appears slow or inadequate to address daily challenges such as the high cost of living or the disruption of public services.”

“Risking tax hikes to achieve a tangible outcome may seem incredibly risky to many in government, but in the context of the democratic doomsday cycle, the risk of a fresh blow to trust may be even greater.”

The report also notes that concerns about tax increases are mainly due to the fact that increasing broad-based taxes means that ‘working people’ will pay rather than those with higher incomes or wealth.

The think tank tested a series of media simulations that presented nationally representative groups of the public with fake news articles announcing different types of tax increases; This showed that the income tax increase did not receive as much of a negative response when combined with higher taxes on wealth.

According to Demos’ report, people said that when they saw the income tax increase along with other tax increases, it felt “less personal” because it wasn’t just aimed at “working people.”

The report’s findings were echoed by YouGov’s director of political analytics, Patrick English. Independent While the public “certainly do not want personal tax increases… they certainly want the government to take concrete action on issues such as the cost of living, public services and the NHS”.

“If the government successfully delivers any personal tax increases that are necessary, or better yet directly linked, to solving these problems, and people continue to feel that these problems are abating, I think the long-term voter risk of such moves will be quite minimal,” he said.

A Labor supporter said he thought the public “could get over the tax rise pretty quickly if they believed we had a plan”.

“They want us to give them hope; that’s what we need to do. Instead of acting like the new management team of a struggling company, unveil a clear plan for what the country will look and feel like,” they said.

Income tax is expected to be among the increases in Ms. Reeves’ announcement at the end of the month.

Chris Curtis, MP for Milton Keynes North and Chair of the Labor Growth Group, said the most important thing for the Budget was for the Treasury to “show credibility to markets to get borrowing and debt interest costs under control”.

“Whatever approach the chancellor chooses to take on taxing and spending needs to put in place a much wider fiscal gap buffer so that we are better placed to absorb the shocks of an increasingly unstable world and provide confidence to investors and the public,” he said.

But pollster Scarlett Maguire, founder and director of Merlin Strategy, said breaking the manifesto pledge could be “politically disastrous”.

“People remember Labor saying they wouldn’t raise taxes (even though they suspected they might) and the big problem with Keir Starmer’s brand is that there is a persistent perception that he is untrustworthy and he goes back on what he said,” he said. Independent.

Meanwhile, former shadow minister and Labor member Thangam Debbonaire said he was “not quite sure” why the party had promised not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT before the last election when he was in the shadow cabinet.

Asked whether he thought the chancellor should raise income tax, he told Times Radio: “I wouldn’t start there. I don’t know exactly why we felt obliged to deliver on that commitment at the general election at the point we did.”

He added: “I wish we weren’t in this situation… I think it’s an issue as we try to rebuild trust in politics. However, I think it’s important for Rachel to stick to the fiscal rules, where she focuses on stability and growth.”

Last week it emerged that Sir Keir’s cabinet was deeply divided over the issue; Senior ministers feared new measures targeting the wealthy in next month’s budget could accelerate the outflow of wealth from Britain.

Cabinet ministers told Independent They believe Ms Reeves has already gone too far with measures targeting the wealthy and businesses and have called on the chancellor to change course if she is to have any hope of achieving growth.