Rachel Reeves hinted at a tax raid on the wealthy to ‘rebuild Britain’ today as she was endorsed by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
The shadow chancellor hit out at the Tories for allowing the ‘wealthiest to avoid taxes’ and ‘keeping loopholes open’ as she delivered her Labour conference speech.
Although Ms Reeves did not elaborate, there have been hints at tightening up inheritance tax rules to raise more cash. It also wants to levy VAT on private schools.
She also swiped at Rishi Sunak for using private planes and helicopters to travel, vowing to crack down on government waste.
In an unusual step, Sir Mark – handpicked by George Osborne to run the BoE but later a strong Brexit critic – recorded a video praising Ms Reeves as a ‘serious economist’.
Ms Reeves urged the party to focus on the task of winning power at the election, saying she wanted to be the first female Chancellor in 800 years.
She warned that Labour cannot ‘tax and spend’ its way to growth, saying she wanted to ‘tax fairly and spend wisely’.
The leadership has already ruled out significant tax rises, including the main rates of income tax and VAT.
‘I didn’t come into politics to raise taxes on working people, indeed I want them to be lower,’ she said.
‘But the Tories have piled 25 tax rises on ordinary working people and businesses while allowing the wealthiest to avoid taxes, keeping loopholes open and letting Government waste spiral. Taxpayers’ money should be spent with the same care with which we spend our own money.’
Ms Reeves said Labour would ‘wage a war against fraud, waste and inefficiency’, including a ‘crackdown on Tory ministers’ private jet habit’.
She said: ‘What is Rishi Sunak so scared of up there in his private jet – meeting a voter? Well, we will properly enforce the Ministerial Code on the use of private planes and save millions of pounds for taxpayers in the process.’
Ms Reeves said Labour would seek to ‘slash Government consultancy spending’, saying it has ‘almost quadrupled in just six years’, and introduce a Covid corruption commissioner helped by a ‘hit squad’.
In his video played in the hall Sir Mark said: ‘Rachel Reeves is a serious economist.
‘She began her career at the Bank of England, so she understands the big picture.
‘But, crucially she understands the economics of work, of place and family.
‘And, look, it is beyond time we put her energy and ideas into action.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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