Almost seven million more workers face paying income tax by 2030-31 after Healey keeps thresholds frozen in £71bn raid
Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaking to ITV News, with NatWest chief executive Paul Thwaite among those criticising Chancellor John Healey for lacking ambition on growth.Andy Burnham in Glasgow, where he chaired his first National Economic Council and pledged no nation would be "left behind" on devolution.
A freeze on income tax thresholds introduced in 2021-22 and extended to 2030-31 will drag a further 6.75 million people into paying income tax at all, with six million more pushed into higher and additional rates, according to Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis of Office for Budget Responsibility figures. Chancellor John Healey declined to act on the freeze in Wednesday's Budget despite Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously suggesting the policy would be revisited. The raid amounts to an extra £71bn for the Treasury by 2030-31 — dwarfing most other measures in Healey's fiscal event.
Tory Treasury spokesman Gareth Davies accused Labour of 'hiking taxes by stealth' while families face rising food and energy costs.
Healey's Budget also drew fire for directing a £100 energy handout to million-pound homes in Notting Hill and Primrose Hill via outdated 1991 council tax bands, while poorer households in Blackpool miss out.
Neil Kinnock warned that welfare cuts and winter fuel payment withdrawal turned voter disillusionment into 'active dislike' of Labour — and helped wipe out the party in Wales.
