Keir Starmer has criticized Jeremy Hunt’s proposal for a £46 billion unfunded tax cut, accusing him of repeating the budget errors made during Liz Truss’s premiership. Starmer highlighted Hunt’s plan to abolish employees’ national insurance over time as a larger unfunded promise than those made by Truss. He also pointed out the humiliation of Hunt having to announce the abolition of non-dom status, a longtime Labour proposal.
During a visit to a building site, Starmer emphasized the importance of properly funding policies, particularly regarding the NHS, and vowed that nothing in the Labour manifesto would be unfunded or uncosted.
Meanwhile, former Tory chancellor George Osborne warned that it would be “absolutely nuts” for Rishi Sunak to call a general election in May, given the Conservatives’ standing in the polls. Energy minister Andrew Bowie faced criticism for publicly opposing the extension of the windfall tax on energy companies but was ultimately allowed to retain his position.
On the Scottish front, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar criticized the SNP government’s failure to properly fund legal rights to housing and healthcare, accusing them of breaking patient treatment laws hundreds of thousands of times. This criticism comes as the SNP’s record in government is set to be a major issue in the upcoming election.
Additionally, controversy arose over the use of taxpayers’ money to cover a libel settlement for a statement made by Science Secretary Michelle Donelan. While Sunak defended the payment, Starmer called it “insulting” and expressed his disapproval of such use of public funds.
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