Labour’s new deputy leader Lucy Powell has warned Rachel Reeves not to break her manifesto pledges and raise taxes, saying voters have to be able to “trust” the government.
After both the chancellor and the prime minister refused to repeat the promise not to hike income tax, national insurance or VAT, Ms Powell said there was “no question” the party should keep its pledges.
She also said it was urgent the government lift the two child benefit cap in full in this month’s Budget.
The warning comes after Ms Reeves put the country on notice that manifesto-busting sweeping tax rises are coming later this month, saying during an unprecedented pre-Budget speech on Tuesday that “we will all have to contribute”.
Economists have repeatedly warned Ms Reeves that a combination of higher borrowing , sluggish economic growth and Labour U-turns mean she must raise taxes or tear up her flagship borrowing rules in the Budget.
Ms Powell told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We should be following through on our manifesto, of course. There’s no question about that.”
When it came to manifesto promises, she said that “trust in politics is a key part of that because if we’re to take the country with us then they’ve got to trust us and that’s really important too.”
She also called for the two child benefit cap to be abolished with “urgency”.
“I think what we’ve all been talking about recently is the urgency of that now,” she said, “because every year that passes with this policy in place, another 40,000 children are pushed into deep levels of poverty as a result of it – and that’s why it is urgent that we do lift it and we lift it in full.”
Tony Blair’s think tank has warned Ms Reeves that she must slash taxes again before the next election if she breaks her key manifesto pledge and hikes them in the Budget.
The group also said that any tax hikes such as raising VAT or income tax must be done in tandem with pro-business policies to break Britain’s “tax-and-spend doom loop”.
