Keir Starmer’s response to the Budget was delayed a little because the SNP forced a division on the immediate measures announced by the Chancellor. This was unusual, but if it gave the Labour leader a little more time to work out what he was going to say, it wasn’t clear he’d used it. He offered a stump speech that we’ve heard before: this was the ‘last, desperate act of a party that has failed’ and that there should be an election on 2 May. As I said earlier, if that was the last big event before Rishi Sunak calls a May election, he’s clearly aiming for a very low-key campaign that rests on the achievements of the past 14 years, rather than any last-minute flourishes.

Starmer wanted to suggest that the achievements of the last 14 years are somewhat minimal, that today’s announcements would be seen as a ‘Tory con’, and that instead the country will remember the damage done to the economy by Liz Truss’s mini-Budget. He told the chamber:

People have been living through this nonsense for 14 years. They know the thresholds are still frozen, dropping more and more people into higher taxes. They know that a Tory stealth tax is coming their way in the shape of their next council tax bill.

Starmer offered a stump speech that we’ve heard before

He also accused Jeremy Hunt of stealing Labour policy by picking up the plan to abolish the non-dom tax status. ‘I say, get used to it, because with this pair in charge, it won’t be long before they ask you to defend the removal of private school tax relief!’

What is the major point of difference between Labour and the Tories after today? Starmer said he would support the National Insurance cut, the fuel duty cut and the fresh investment in the NHS – while pointing out that ‘the Chancellor, when he was health secretary 10 years ago, promised to make the NHS paperless by 2018.

QOSHE - Starmer offers little in response to Hunt’s Budget - Isabel Hardman
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Starmer offers little in response to Hunt’s Budget

9 1
06.03.2024

Keir Starmer’s response to the Budget was delayed a little because the SNP forced a division on the immediate measures announced by the Chancellor. This was unusual, but if it gave the Labour leader a little more time to work out what he was going to say, it wasn’t clear he’d used it. He offered a stump speech that we’ve heard before: this was the ‘last, desperate act of a party that has failed’ and that there should be an election on 2 May. As I........

© The Spectator


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