Labour civil war continues as Rachel Reeves is ‘fighting for her political survival’ | Politics | News
Labour’s civil war deepens ahead of the November Budget as Rachel Reeves’ supporters admit she has “no long-term strategy”. Labor MPs are publicly warning the Chancellor not to break his main manifesto promise not to increase income tax, as he has suggested. MPs mocked Ms Reeves, claiming her annual financial statement would “drop like a bucket of patients” and that she was “fighting for political survival”.
On Friday Ms Reeves reportedly told the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that she was considering a 2p increase in income tax, which would be offset by a 2p cut to National Insurance (NI) because total tax bills would remain roughly the same. But pensioners and the self-employed, who generally do not pay National Insurance, will pay more. In response, some leading Labor MPs have expressed concern that the Government has failed to deliver on a key promise in the manifesto.
New deputy leader Lucy Powell insisted the Chancellor must stick to the promise he made in the Budget on 26 November. Speaking to Matt Chorley on BBC Radio 5 Live, Ms Powell said: “Of course we have to follow our manifesto. There’s no doubt about that.”
Labor MP Clive Lewis added that “it is a bit worrying that we have a Chancellor who has been constantly fielding for the last month” to see what Britons find “acceptable”.
“This makes the situation less stable,” he said Telegram.
“He is a Chancellor who does not have a long-term economic strategy but is trying and struggling to please as many people as possible. [her] Political survival. This does not inspire confidence.”
Similarly, Rachael Maskell, whose whip was recently repaired, said that increasing income tax would lead to “employees paying more.”
“I think he would lose a lot of trust and confidence if he went against what he said openly. [in the manifesto]”Once all these options are available to him, there will be real questions about why it happened,” he said.
Graham Stringer also questioned the Chancellor’s long continuation in office if he “breaks a promise that is fundamental to the Labor Party”. The Labor MP added that there was a “feeling of hopelessness” and that they needed to stand by their commitments to the public.
Treasury sources told The Telegraph there would be “rewards” for “necessary choices” in the Budget.
“Employees cannot afford to risk stability,” they added.
