Shadow chancellor John McDonnell promises tax hike only for people earning over £80,000

Political reporter(wp/es):

Labour will raise income tax only for people earning £80,000 and above, the party’s shadow chancellor will officially announce today.

If elected in next month’s General Election, John McDonnell promised Labour will fund their spending on public services by a hike in tax for wealthier people.

Mr McDonnell said the pledge would mean only the top five per cent of earners would face tax increases, while his "personal tax guarantee" would protect 95 per cent of workers - anyone earning less than £80k - from increases.

The move will be read by many commentators as a bid to attract more low and middle-income workers.

Mr McDonnell said the Labour manifesto for the June 8 election will also include a promise of no rises in personal national insurance contributions (NICs) or VAT over the course of the five-year parliament, due to end in 2022.

Speculation is rife that Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to ditch predecessor David Cameron's 2015 pledge not to raise rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT until 2020, after Chancellor Philip Hammond said last month he would like "more flexibility" on the issue.

Mr Hammond was forced by the 2015 pledge to dump planned reforms to NICs in the Budget.

Detailing the plans in a speech in London on Sunday, Mr McDonnell is expected to say Labour is now the only party committed to not raising taxes on middle and low-earners.

He will spell out his economic vision for a richer Britain in what he terms a "big deal to upgrade the economy".

"If Labour is elected next month we will guarantee that for the next five years there will be no tax rises for income taxpayers earning less than £80,000 a year, no hikes in VAT, and no changes in your National Insurance Contributions either," he will say.

"The Labour Party is now the party of low taxes for middle and low earners, while the Tories are the party of tax handouts for the super-rich and big corporations.

"That is why every time Theresa May and the Tories are asked whether they are planning tax increases if they are re-elected on June 8, they run and hide."

Mr McDonnell will accuse Mrs May of refusing to take part in TV debates in order to avoid being put on the spot over tax.

"They are so determined not to be questioned on their plans, the Prime Minister refuses to take part in any TV debates and will only visit workplaces if there are no workers there, just her own party's activists," he will say.

"The Tories are hoping that the British people can be kept in the dark about what the tax increases they are planning will mean for those on middle and low incomes, who have had to bear the brunt of seven years of austerity."

Conservative chief secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said: "Jeremy Corbyn will have to raise taxes because his nonsensical economic ideas don't add up and he'll make a mess of the Brexit negotiations."

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Baroness Kramer said: "Labour's so-called tax pledges aren't worth the paper they're written on, given their inability to form a proper opposition, let alone a government.. Labour has a spending list as long as your arm yet does not explain how to pay for it."