Home News Welsh Labour Will Not Raise Income Tax

Welsh Labour Will Not Raise Income Tax

The Welsh Labour Party has promised not to raise income tax until after the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is over.

The pledge formed part of the party’s Senedd election manifesto. It made the pledge ahead of the Welsh Assembly elections next month.

The Welsh Parliament has the power to moderately vary the rate of income tax by 10p in each band compared to the national Government.

The Manifesto states that Labour would not “not take more in Welsh rates of income tax from Welsh families for at least as long as the economic impact of coronavirus lasts”.

At the launch of the Manifesto, Welsh Labour leader and current First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “We’ve lived through an extraordinary 12 months, people I think want to have a government that they know is capable, competent and committed, and we’ll finish that job, but we’re more than that.

“We are a party with ambition for the whole of Wales to tackle the next crisis – the crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss.”

“Mark Drakeford” by NHS Confederation is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The Welsh Labour Party also promised to train 12,000 “doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and psychologists” over the next five years.

The Labour Party will be fighting to keep and improve on the twenty-nine seats it currently holds in the Welsh Parliament.

The vote for the Welsh Assembly will take place on the 6th May, along with the elections for the Scottish Parliament.