Labour MP Chris Hinchliff has said it is "ridiculous" to suggest taxes on working Britons cannot be increased, despite families facing the highest burden since World War 2. The North East Hertfordshire MP made the comments at a fringe event as Labour members gathered for their annual conference in Liverpool.
Support for higher taxes
Mr Hinchliff backed making the taxpayer shoulder the potentially huge cost of his party's planned national care service. He told delegates that Labour must be prepared to make the case for high taxes, branding it "ridiculous" to argue people's pay cheques could not be squeezed further.
His comments will pile pressure on Chancellor John Healey and Prime Minister Andy Burnham to lay out how they will fund their plans.
Breaking the 2024 pledge
Labour went into the 2024 General Election promising not to increase the rate of income tax, VAT or National Insurance. The party repeatedly presented the pledge as a commitment to protect "working people" from tax rises, but went on to break it by raising taxes in its first two Budgets.
Mr Burnham has repeatedly claimed he wants to give people some "space" as they tackle cost-of-living pressures, and has also committed to the 2024 manifesto.
Fight for higher taxation
Mr Hinchliff said Labour should be willing to fight elections on a platform of higher taxation if that was needed to fund a National Care Service. He said: "It is ridiculous to say that we can't put up taxes in the country to pay for a national care service because that would be unaffordable to people when these costs are already falling on individuals.
"Failing to socialise costs does not make those costs go away – it just means that it falls unfairly and becomes a burden that many people cannot carry. So we have to let the Labour movement be prepared to take that argument forward boldly. And fight for it every step of the way in every election to come."
Record tax burden
The remarks come amid swirling speculation Mr Burnham will move against the triple lock on the state pension as well to fund the pledge. The triple lock means the state pension rises in line with inflation, economic growth or average earnings, whichever is highest.
Since sweeping into office, Labour has driven taxes to record levels, with its first two Budgets increasing taxes by £36billion and £26billion respectively – pushing the tax burden to a historic high of 38.3% of GDP. It increased employers' National Insurance costs by up to £900 per employee each year.
Richard Fuller MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "Andy Burnham's national care service means another tax raid for working people.
"Labour have already smashed their promise not to raise taxes on working families, and now they want people to pay even more.
"Labour MPs can call concerns about affordability 'ridiculous', but families struggling to pay their bills will have every right to fear the impact of another Labour tax raid.
"Labour needs to spell out honestly about the cost of this scheme and exactly how much more they plan to take from taxpayers to pay for it."
John O'Connell, chief executive at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Calling for higher taxes does not make social care cheaper, it simply shifts the bill onto taxpayers.
"Anyone proposing a national care service should be upfront about exactly how much it would cost and who would be made to pay.
"Taxpayers deserve hard numbers, not the pretence that socialising a cost somehow makes it disappear."
