Attention turns to Starmer as Labour conference kicks off tomorrow
Attention has turned to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as the party’s annual conference kicks off tomorrow.
Taking place in Liverpool from Sunday until Wednesday, the conference will provide an opportunity for Starmer to assert himself as the next prime minister.
Supporters hope Starmer will use the meeting to mark the stark divide between his party and the Conservatives, especially after yesterday’s mini-budget.
The Labour leader has in fact accused the government of “gambling the mortgages and finances” for millions of Britons.
“Tory casino economics is gambling the mortgages and finances of every family in the country,” he tweeted today.
“Labour will secure growth for working people, that benefits all communities. My Government will deliver a fairer, greener future.”
Calls for a heavier windfall tax are expected to be a key part of the party’s arguments.
“We wouldn’t be making the choices around the tax cuts at the moment, we don’t think that’s the way forward,” deputy leader Angela Rayner told BBC Breakfast this morning.
Rayner added that Labour would reverse the scrapping of the 45p rate of income tax introduced by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng during yesterday’s mini-budget.
“We would be asking the oil and gas companies to pay a little bit more when they’ve made billions of pounds of profit, instead of putting it all on the national debt. We don’t think that’s the right priority,” Rayner said.
“We’ve seen trickle-down economics before. It doesn’t work, we don’t believe it’ll stimulate the economy. And, you know, I think it will make the next generation worse off.”
The mini-budget has been criticised by the likes of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Resolution Foundation for benefitting society’s wealthiest.
“Well, if looked straightforwardly at people’s incomes with these tax changes, the more money you have, the more you gain,” Institute for Fiscal Studies’ director Paul Johnson told the BBC.
Johnson’s comments were echoed by the Resolution Foundation, which said on Friday tax cuts would boost growth in the short term but “raise interest rates and see an additional £411 billion of borrowing over five years”.