02-07-2025
Watch: McFadden refuses to rule out tax rises after welfare U-turn
Uh oh. After Sir Keir Starmer's embarrassing U-turn on his government's welfare bill last night – where changes to Personal Insurance Payments were pushed back until after disability minister Stephen Timms's review on it all next year – cabinet minister Pat McFadden has been out on the airwaves this morning defending his leader. But when the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster appeared on BBC Breakfast, Mr S noted that he didn't quite manage to reassure viewers that there would be no tax rises in the autumn as a result of this £5bn volte face…
When quizzed on whether economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies were correct in thinking that tax rises are on the horizon, McFadden remarked:
Well, this was one moving part of the budgetary picture. It does have a financial consequence yesterday. I'm not going to speculate on where the budget lands because there are so many other different moving parts, and it wouldn't make sense for me to do that.
The Beeb tried again: 'Can you rule out tax rises?' McFadden, once again, obfuscated:
Look, I'm not going to speculate on the budget. We will keep to the tax promises that we made in our manifesto when we fought the election last year. But it doesn't make sense for me to speculate on something where, as I say, there are so many moving parts of which this is only one element.
Clear as mud, eh? And Steerpike isn't sure that Brits will believe Labour figures who insist the party of government will keep their word. As YouGov polling revealed on Tuesday, the number one reason voters are deserting Starmer's army is, er, broken promises!
Watch the clip here:
