Sir Keir Starmer has insisted Labour “kept to our manifesto” promises despite raising taxes in the budget – as he asked “everybody to contribute”.
The morning after the chancellor announced her record-breaking tax-raising budget, the prime minister told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby the government had “done the least possible we can” to impact people and had “done it in a fair way”.
He said it was “not true” his government has misled the public after promising not to raise taxes again after last year’s budget.
And he refused multiple times to say he had broken his manifesto promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT “on working people”.
“We kept to our manifesto in terms of what we’ve promised,” he said.
“But I accept the challenge that we’ve asked everybody to contribute. I want to be really clear on why we’ve done that,” Sir Keir continued.
“That is because we need to protect our NHS, to make sure that it’s there for people when they need it and their families when they need it.
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“Secondly, to make sure we’ve got the money to put into our schools. So every single child can go as far as their talent will take them,” the prime minister added.
“And the third thing is to bear down on the cost of living.”
Politics latest: Reeves says people will pay more
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Rachel Reeves announced the lifting of the two-child benefit cap at the budget, which is estimated to cost £3bn a year by 2029-30, and has been warmly welcomed by Labour backbenchers.
But put to him that this was “to save your own skin”, Sir Keir refuted that, saying he has always been “determined to drive down child poverty”.
Sir Keir added that “we’ve done a lot to stabilise the economy”, which he said was shown by the £21.7bn headroom the tax rises have given the economy and the market reaction to the budget.
“So, it’s clear that others think the right measures have been put in place,” he said.
Tax calculator: Find how much more you will pay due to thresholds freeze
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The chancellor announced her budget on Wednesday, just under an hour after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) accidentally uploaded its entire report early, revealing just what would be in the announcement.
She confirmed 43 tax increases to raise an extra £26bn, bringing taxes to an all-time high.
One of the largest tax hikes was the extension to the freeze in income tax thresholds by three years until 2031 to raise £8.3bn more by the end of the decade.
But Ms Reeves also insisted this was not a betrayal of Labour’s manifesto promise.
She admitted to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby she is “asking ordinary people to pay a little bit more” but said the manifesto promise was “very specific”.
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The main budget announcements
Sticking to Labour manifesto pledge costs millions of workers
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The chancellor also announced:
• Pensions contributions via salary sacrifice will be capped in 2029 at £2,000 a year before national insurance applies, raising £4.7bn
• The cash ISA allowance will be cut from £20,000 to £12,000 in 2017 for under 65s
• A mansion tax of £2,500 on properties worth more than £2m up to £7,500 for over £5m homes
• Basic and new state pension rates increased by 4.8%
• Pay-per-mile tax for electric vehicles from April 2028
• Tax rates on property savings and dividend income increased by two percentage points
• Two-child benefit cap lifted from April 2026
• Fuel duty frozen until next September
• £150 cuts to average household energy bill from April
• Inheritance tax change to allow transfer of 100% relief allowance to a spouse when one dies.
