A campaign urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to raise the tax-free Personal Allowance from its frozen £12,570 limit has gathered more than 50,000 backers in a few months. The petition, launched by an Express reader, calls on the Government to end the freeze, which is pushing more workers into paying more tax.
Petition launched after freeze extended
Mike Haynes, 64, from Devon, started the petition following former Chancellor Rachel Reeves's decision to extend the freeze until 2031. Mr Haynes, a warehouse forklift instructor, told the Express the freeze is 'unfair' and hurts working people.
The tax-free Personal Allowance is the amount an individual can earn in a tax year before paying Income Tax. Workers can earn £12,570 tax-free, then pay 20% on earnings above that, 40% above £50,270, and 45% over £125,140. The allowance has been frozen since 2021 and will remain so until 2031, meaning it will have been stuck for 10 years. The threshold of £12,500 in 2019 is worth approximately £16,215 in 2026 accounting for inflation.
Prime Minister's response
Asked whether he planned to change the allowance, Mr Burnham said: “Well, it’s funny these days you can’t answer a question honestly without then people reading everything else into it.” He added: “I want to answer questions honestly in this job, as I said before. I think that’s all about trust in politics and doing politics differently, and I’m determined to keep working in that way.”
He continued: “It was raised a lot, but I then went on to say, ‘But we’ll have to look at it at the Budget alongside everything else’. So no commitment, no unfunded promise. It’s just perhaps the way politics is these days and the way people report things, but that was an honest answer. There is no commitment at this point to change, but we will look at that at the Budget.”
Treasury rejects proposal
In May, the Government responded to the petition, reiterating it will not raise thresholds sooner. HM Treasury stated: "The Government is committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible while investing in public services and not taking risks with the economy."
The statement added: "Increasing the Personal Allowance to £18,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost of over £40 billion per year. This would also benefit higher earners more than basic-rate taxpayers on average. A £40 billion cut in public services is equivalent to slashing roughly a fifth of the NHS Budget in England, or around two thirds of defence spending."
Mr Haynes said if the Prime Minister doesn't reverse the freeze, the campaign will 'bury Burnham'. He said: "Let's bury Burnham. Keep the pressure on the Labour Party and get an early election."
