Howard predicts Labour tax rises
Conservative leader Michael Howard today claimed that there was an £8 billion black hole in Labour’s spending plans.
He said that the British people were “paying too much in tax and getting too little in return”, and he predicted that taxes would have to rise if Labour won the General Election.
Speaking in Wimbledon he said the electorate faced a clear choice at the next election: “More waste and higher taxes under Labour or value for money and lower taxes with the Conservatives.”
Lower taxes would lead to a more “cohesive society”, he claimed, because the British public would “do more not just for ourselves, but for our communities.”
He said the economy had slowed down since Labour had come to power, stating that Britain was already the slowest growing English speaking economy in the world.
The Government “must once again start to live within its means,” he said.
At Prime Minister’s Question time on Wednesday Mr Howard pressed Mr Blair for assurances that there would be no increases in the basic and top rate of income tax and National Insurance contributions.
Mr Howard cited the views of economic analysts who are predicting that taxes would have to go up in a third term.
But Mr Blair denied this was the case: “I think they are wrong for this very simple reason: that the Treasury forecasts on the economy have been proven right.”
