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Sir Keir Starmer insisted he did not want to raise income tax, but refused to follow Tony Blair’s lead in writing a pledge before the general election.
The Labor leader was speaking at an election event in Essex, where he unveiled a pledge card setting out six “first steps” his party would take if it won power.
The measures include investing in the NHS, education and police, creating a new national energy company and elite border force, and promoting economic stability.
But missing from that list is a pledge similar to that made by the incoming Blair government in 1996, when it excluded income tax increases from its own pledge card.
Asked by ITV why Labor had not made a similar pledge on the new card, Sir Keir said: “On tax, we have said we don’t want to raise taxes.”
Asked again why he had not made a written commitment, the Labor leader said: “We’ve had higher taxes for the last 14 years than we’ve had in our entire history, and I think this is the last time.” Everyone wants more taxes.
“In fact, when you look at what levers the government can pull, we know that traditionally Labor tends to use the tax lever, but that’s not how I operate. The growth lever. I want to aim for it.”