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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Rachael Burford

Cynical Tories taking working people for fools, says Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves

Labour accused the Government of attempting to take working people “for fools” with a “cynical” Autumn Statement.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves warned that some tax cuts ahead of next year’s general election would not make up for low growth.

Britain is forecast to be the slowest growing economy in the G7 next year, she said.

Responding to Jeremy Hunt’s fiscal statement in the Commons, she said: “British people won't be taken for fools.

"They know that what has been announced today owes more to the cynicism of a party desperate to cling onto power than the real priorities of this high-tax, low-growth Conservative Government.

"So I think we can forgive taxpayers for not celebrating when they see the truth behind today's announcements.

"Going into this statement the Government had already put in place tax increases worth the equivalent of a 10p increase in national insurance.

"So today's 2p cut will not remotely compensate for the tax (increases) already put in place by this Conservative Government. The fact is that taxes will be higher at the next election than they were at the last."

Labour said “Conservative economic recklessness” had inflicted a “Tory mortgage penalty all over the country”.

Last year then-prime minister Liz Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced the biggest package of tax cuts in half a century, which resulted in a crash in the markets. Mr Hunt reversed most of the measures after taking over as chancellor.

But Ms Reeves highlighted the impact the doomed mini-budget was still having.

She commented on the spiralling bills for homeowners, including in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Yorkshire seat and the Chancellor’s own South West Surrey constituency.

"Just last year we saw the true cost of the Conservatives, when their kamikaze budget crashed the economy leading to market turmoil, pensions put in peril and a spike in interest rates," Ms Reeves said.

"1.6 million families will see their mortgage deals end this year, those remortgaging since July have seen their payments rocket by an average of £220-a-month and next year one-and-a-half million families will face a similar fate.

"The Conservatives' economic recklessness inflicted a Tory mortgage penalty on families across the country."

“In Richmond, North Yorkshire, homeowners are facing £200 more in monthly mortgage costs.

“In the Chancellor’s own constituency families with a mortgage will see an average increase in mortgage costs of £420 a month because of Conservative economic failure.

“Working people just don’t have that sort of money lying around."

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