Labour tax rises are as sure as night follows day, says Jeremy Hunt

Labour would put up taxes “as sure as night follows day”, Jeremy Hunt will warn on Friday as he sets out the Conservatives’ economic pitch ahead of the election.

During the address in central London, the Chancellor will accuse Sir Keir Starmer of using “playground politics” to disguise plans to hit families in the pocket so his big spending pledges can be funded.

Mr Hunt will point to taxes, jobs and welfare as three clear dividing lines between the Tories and Labour on the economy, and insist that he has a plan to boost growth by cutting taxes, creating jobs and cracking down on benefits.

It comes in a week where the Prime Minister fired the starting gun on the election campaign with a speech in which he warned that Labour presented a threat to the future security of the UK.

Other announcements that drew dividing lines between Labour and the Tories followed, with police told to increase the use of stop and search, and new draft guidance on sex education published that urges schools not to teach contested gender ideology and says that sex education should not be taught to children below the age of nine.

Mr Hunt will defend the Tories’ record and insist that the tax rises introduced to pay for the cost of Covid lockdowns and energy bills support will be reversed.

In contrast, he will say that Sir Keir intends to keep the tax burden at a record high.

The Chancellor will say: “With no plans to pay for their spending pledges, taxes will go up under any future Labour government as sure as night follows day.

“And taxes will go down under a Conservative government because we will do the hard work necessary to keep our economy competitive.”

The speech comes after Sir Keir, the Labour leader, unveiled his six election pledges in Essex on Thursday.

They included a commitment to keep taxes “as low as possible” but stopped short of promising not to put them up.

Mr Hunt’s comments come after Downing Street was buoyed by good news on the economy, including growth figures of 0.6pc in the first three months of the year.

Three banking giants cut their mortgage rates on Thursday amid hopes that tumbling inflation will lead to interest rate cuts as early as the start of summer.

Mr Hunt is targeting Labour on tax after recent polling showed that 2019 Tory voters would prefer cutting the burden to pouring more money into public services.

A survey by Ipsos, carried out in March, found that 43 per cent of Conservatives favoured tax cuts even if it meant less state spending on areas such as the NHS. In contrast, 31 per cent said they would be happy to pay more tax to better fund public services.

Winning back the voters who propelled Boris Johnson into Downing Street five years ago is crucial to Tory hopes of turning around their electoral fortunes.

Mr Hunt will say: “Labour like to criticise tax rises this parliament, thinking people don’t know why they have gone up.

“The furlough scheme, the energy price guarantee and billions of pounds of cost of living support – policies Labour themselves supported.

“Which is why it is playground politics to use those tax rises to distract debate from the biggest divide in British politics – which is what happens next.

“Conservatives recognise that whilst those tax rises may have been necessary, they should not be permanent. Labour do not.”

His remarks will be seen as a statement of intent that the Tories plan to bring the tax burden back down to the level it was before the pandemic.

Mr Sunak, then the chancellor, unveiled £46 billion worth of tax rises between 2020 and 2022 to cover the cost of lockdown measures including furlough.

They included raising the rate of corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent and freezing income tax thresholds, which has dragged millions into higher tax brackets.

The Chancellor will pledge to undo the damage by cutting National Insurance “until it’s gone”, ending the double tax on jobs at an estimated cost of £46 billion.

Labour has repeatedly attacked the proposals in recent weeks, warning that the Tories would need to launch a raid on pensioners’ perks to pay for them.

Mr Hunt will add that Britain needs to become more like the low-tax economies of North America and Asia and less like the stagnating European Union.

He will say that “making work pay is good for growth” in a nod to the Tories’ plans to bear down on the ballooning number of people on sickness benefits.

On Thursday night, the Tories seized on remarks by a senior shadow minister that suggested there was a £12 billion funding black hole in Labour’s energy plans.

Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, told LBC it “may well be” that Labour’s proposals to set up GB Energy would cost £82 billion.

It would mean Labour putting in £20.5 billion, not the previously costed £8.8 billion, with the rest of the money coming from private investment.

Claire Coutinho, the Energy Secretary, said: “Keir Starmer needs to urgently explain which taxes they would raise to pay for this. It’s clearer than ever that Labour do not have a plan.”

The Conservatives have also sought to draw dividing lines this week with Labour on crime and gender ideology.

On Tuesday, Chris Philp, the Policing Minister, urged officers to increase the use of stop and search after Mr Sunak criticised Sadiq Khan over knife crime in London.

That was followed on Thursday by an announcement from Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, banning the teaching of “contested” gender ideology, such as that children can change their sex or that there are 72 genders.

James Murray MP, Labour’s shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, responding to Mr Hunt’s economic speech, said: “There is nothing Jeremy Hunt can say or do to hide that fact that working people are worse off after 14 years of economic failure under the Conservatives. The tax burden is at a 70-year high and the average household is forecast to be £870 worse off under Rishi Sunak’s tax plan.

“Now Jeremy Hunt is desperately trying to distract from reality with his reckless £46 billion unfunded tax plan to abolish National Insurance.

“It is time for change. Labour will deliver economic stability with tough spending rules, so we can grow our economy and keep taxes, inflation, and mortgages as low as possible.”