Labour call out the Government on £3 billion tax cut for top 1%

Update: The Commons voted down Labour’s motion on the top rate of tax by 248 – 287. That’s reduced the government’s majority to just 39

In an Opposition Day Debate today, Labour are going to say that in the next Parliament, they would reverse the Coalition’s tax cut for the top 1%.

The shadow treasury team will ask Ministers to rule out a further cut in the top rate of income tax for earnings over £150,000, while also calling out of the Government on their unfair £3billion a year tax cut to those earning over £150,000.

While the Tories continue to repeat that the economy is recovering, Chris Leslie shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, speaking ahead of the debate, has pointed out that many “working people are still not feeling the recovery”:

“While millions of working people have seen their taxes go up, millionaires have been given a huge tax cut by David Cameron’s government.

The top one per cent of earners have been given a £3 billion a year tax cut – worth an average of £100,000 for those earning over £1 million. But at the same time families will be on average almost £1,000 a year worse off by next year as a result of tax and benefit changes since 2010.

How can a tax cut for millionaires be the right priority when working people are still not feeling the recovery and the deficit remains high? Now the Tories want to cut tax credits again for millions of working families while keeping their huge tax cut for top one per cent of earners. As we’ve seen time and time again, the Tories always stand up for a privileged few rather than hard working people.

We know their real economic plan is to cut taxes at the top and hope that wealth will just trickle down. That’s why David Cameron and George Osborne still won’t rule out cutting the top rate of tax again for earnings over £150,000 from 45p to 40p. 

 Working people who are worse off under David Cameron can’t afford more of this same old failed Tory economics.

As part of our plan to balance the books in the next Parliament in a fairer way Labour will reverse the Tory tax cut for millionaires and introduce a lower 10p starting rate of tax for 24 million working people.”