Labour: Tory autumn statement will not make families better off

by Alison McGovern

It’s already clear that the next election will be fought on the economy. Up and down our country, it’s got much harder to make ends meet. Too many families have battled through the past year, just trying to make sure there is food on the table and bills get paid.

Meanwhile, the Tories have been fighting amongst themselves, debating which tax to cut after 25 Tory tax rises since 2019. We will see the results of the internecine Tory tax wars later today. With outspoken MPs on all sides, it is hard to see how Jeremy Hunt can keep everyone in his party happy.

But the question for all of our friends and neighbours over the next year is much simpler. People will be asking themselves, has 13 years of Conservative rule made my family better off? 

And more, people will be wanting to know that a Labour government will make a difference. Our job today is to make it clear. Whether on rebuilding our public services, building new homes, or giving people a better chance of a good job, Labour can help every family do better. After 13 years of failure and chaos, it’s time for that change.

By Morgan Jones

Good morning. I hope you enjoyed Alison McGovern’s semi-takeover. Back in the unelected gutter with me now, where you belong. Anyway, as I’m sure won’t have escaped your attention (see above etc etc etc), later today the Chancellor will deliver his autumn statement, with the general expectation being tax cuts aiming to boost growth. A “biggest ever” hike to the minimum wage is also due to be announced in the Commons later today.

Hunt’s Labour opposite number, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has some damning words for the trailed Tory proposals in advance of the statement: “The 25 Tory tax rises since 2019 are the clearest sign of economic failure, with households paying £4,000 more in tax each year than they did in 2010. The Conservatives have become the party of high tax because they are the party of low growth. Nothing the Chancellor says or does in his autumn statement can change their appalling record.”

Many people think that in the entrails of Jeremy Hunt’s announcements today (and their reception) we may be able to read the intention of the government, viz, when the general election will be called. If a range of ambitious tax cuts lands well and the statement leaves the government feeling more bullish than it has in months, going for broke (despite the polls) and holding an election in May will experience a peak of likelihood. In my view, however, the statement is unlikely to have that effect (don’t just take it from me – Ed Dorrell writes this morning inLabourList how the Tories’ reputation for incompetence is now built-in for voters) even if it is intended, and the overwhelming likelihood remains a general election at the back end of next year. I’ll see you all on the doorsteps then, comrades.

In other Labour news…

KETTERING: Rosie Wrighting has been picked by Labour to fight the seat, a Conservative hold since 2005, Wrighting will be looking to overturn a Conservative majority of 16,765 votes.

HOLYROOD: Scottish Labour MSPs will today table a motion to declare a housing emergency across Scotland. It follows their notable vote yesterday for an immediate Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

CALDER VALLEY: Josh Fenton-Glynn, who contested the seat in 2017 and 2019, has been picked again in the seat. He lost by a narrow margin in 2017 to the Tory Craig Whittaker and the seat is one Labour will expect to win.

DAVID MILIBAND: The former Labour Foreign Secretary spoke in central London last night at an event hosted by the IPPR think tank. Miliband had warm words for Keir Starmer’s missions, intriguing reflections on the ‘97 manifesto, and, interestingly, did not rule out a return to frontline Labour politics. Our editor Tom has a thread on what was said here. Bafflingly, after Miliband’s departure, the event morphed into a German Christmas-themed cabaret act and various people, including yours truly and LabourList columnist Ben Glover, became trapped in what I would term the audience participation fallout zone, swaying gently, unable to leave. It was very strange.