Keir Starmer’s closest aide sparks fears over ‘secret’ Labour plot to hike capital gains tax – before making huge U-turn
FEARS of a secret Labour plot to hike capital gains tax intensified today as Sir Keir Starmer’s closest aide appeared to endorse the idea.
Party campaign supremo Morgan McSweeney set hares running by “liking” a social media post advocating for higher rates.
After calls by journalists this morning he has since removed the like and is understood to have told colleagues it was accidental.
But it risked pouring petrol on a row that Labour has spent days firefighting after repeatedly refusing to categorically rule out a flurry of tax increases.
Sir Keir has committed the party not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT over the first five years if elected PM.
His failure to do the same with capital gains and council tax has been seized upon by the Tories accusing him of planning to clobber Brits.
The LinkedIn post Mr McSweeney “liked” from a Labour staffer said it would be “wise politically” for Sir Keir to raise £15billion from increasing capital gains tax, which is levied on assets like homes and shares that gain value.
Conservative Treasury minister Laura Trott told The Sun: “Labour think they can hide these secret tax rises until after the election, but we won’t let them get away with it. Keir Starmer should come clean with the British people.”
Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also did not rule out letting town halls hike council tax to plug budget black holes.
He told The BBC: “We don’t want to see the tax burden on working people increase, I know the Conservatives have baked into their plans council tax rises, that’s in the government’s spending forecast.
“What Rachel Reeves is going to work to do is to get growth back into our economy so we can invest in our public services and ease the tax burden on people.”
Earlier this week the party appeared in a muddle over whether it would rule out slapping primary residences with capital gains tax for the first time.
After the Conservatives accused Labour of the “unprecedented” move, a Labour spokesman ruled it out as a “bad idea”.
But the same day Sir Keir caused confusion by not matching that commitment in a later interview with the BBC.
Questions also remain over fuel duty, although Mr Streeting has all-but confirmed it would remain frozen.
He told our Never Mind The Ballots show that The Sun’s long-running Keep It Down campaign would be “pushing at an open door” under Labour.
Both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir are facing questions over their tax plans, with the burden on Brits set to rise under both the two main parties thanks to frozen thresholds.