The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer has accused the Government of “party-political considerations” driving their latest budget.
Labour’s Anneliese Dodds claimed that that the current Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is planning tax hikes in order to cut them before the next election in 2024. Mr Sunak has denied these claims.
Reports claim that the Chancellor is planning to increase the rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25% in an attempt to recuperate some of the Government spending from the last year following the coronavirus pandemic.
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Ms Dodds was asked about the plans to raise taxes on Sky News, responding: “Well, with respect, what I just said is that we would welcome that longer-term debate around corporation tax, I just said that it has been concerning how the Conservative Party has pulled us away from the mainstream on Corporation Tax.
“But why are they focused on this now, why are they focused on increasing Council Tax directly for families right now?
“They are focused on it because the Chancellor has said to his MPs that he wants to get tax changes out of the way now so that they can have a clear run through to the next General Election.
“Instead, they should be focused on promoting our economy and securing our recovery.
“Yes, let’s have that long-term discussion about tax, particularly to protect our high street businesses, but let’s not pretend that the Conservative Party is doing that right now because it wants to secure our recovery – it seems to be driven by party-political considerations.”
Rishi Sunak rejected these claims on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. He said: “No, I don’t recognise that and I think anyone – well, given the shock that we’ve had over the last year and the economic uncertainty we face – it would be brave for people to know exactly what was going to happen in three years.
“What I’m focused on right now is preparing a Budget that provides support for people and businesses and families through the remaining stages of this crisis.”
