Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Labour still arguing amongst themselves
Just how incompetent is Labour as an official opposition? Given their performance in propping up the Tories in pursuing our exit from the European Union, the question hardly seems answering. Like the Tories they are divided, ineffective and not listening to changing public opinion.
They are letting the government get away with its own failings through poor and misdirected scrutiny, whilst Corbyn's performances at Prime Minister's Question Time remain tame and unfocussed. But they always have their opposition to austerity and their commitment to fair economic policies to fall back on. Or do they?
This week's budget has been a revelation. Tory Chancellor, Philip Hammond made a rather futile attempt to outflank Labour on public spending, but in attempting to announce the end of austerity, he left himself open to the charge of not doing enough.
More importantly, in raising the tax threshold for higher rate taxpayers, Hammond placed an open goal in front of reputedly the most left-wing shadow chancellor in history. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation published on Tuesday found that the cuts, which will cost the Treasury almost £2.8bn, would overwhelmingly benefit wealthier households, with almost half the giveaway going to the top 10% of earners.
Surprisingly, and as the Guardian reports, McDonnell has managed to kick the ball into the stands. They say that he has sparked a backlash from Labour MPs by insisting that the party would not to oppose these tax cuts for higher earners.
“We’re not going to take money out of people’s pockets. Simple as that,” McDonnell said, despite pressure from some colleagues to oppose the giveaway, which was one of the most eye-catching measures in Philip Hammond’s pre-Brexit budget. That pressure covers the full range of opinion within the Labour Party:
Alison McGovern, the chair of the centre-left Progress group, which is associated with Labour, said: “We can’t support spending more on tax cuts for quite wealthy people than on dealing with the universal credit mess.”
The Tottenham MP David Lammy said: “These tax cuts leave a bitter taste in my mouth because they help high earners in the City far more than my constituents in Tottenham, some of whom this winter will be facing the choice between eating and heating. I believe it is a mistake for the Labour party to support this policy as it will lead to more inequality, not less.”
The home affairs select committee chair, Yvette Cooper, said: “This is wrong. I cannot support it.”
McDonnell, however, was unrepentant. “We’re not going to take funding away from people. Some of these are middle-earners, headteachers and people like that, who’ve had a rough time of it, as well as everyone else,” he said.
Instead of reversing Hammond’s giveaways, McDonnell said Labour would implement its own tax rises, including a new top rate of 45p for those earning over £80,000 a year, and reversing Conservative cuts to corporation tax.
“We want a fair taxation system, where the top 5% pay a bit more,” he said. In response to criticism from the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, who said the tax cuts would be “hard to justify at any time,” McDonnell said: “I completely understand where Andy’s coming from, but what we’re into is trying to ensure we have a fair taxation system based upon the new proposals on income tax that we’ve put forward, which he supported.”
When Labour, despite its left-wing rhetoric, is divided over whether to oppose measures that benefit the better-off then we know that they have lost the plot as an opposition.
They are letting the government get away with its own failings through poor and misdirected scrutiny, whilst Corbyn's performances at Prime Minister's Question Time remain tame and unfocussed. But they always have their opposition to austerity and their commitment to fair economic policies to fall back on. Or do they?
This week's budget has been a revelation. Tory Chancellor, Philip Hammond made a rather futile attempt to outflank Labour on public spending, but in attempting to announce the end of austerity, he left himself open to the charge of not doing enough.
More importantly, in raising the tax threshold for higher rate taxpayers, Hammond placed an open goal in front of reputedly the most left-wing shadow chancellor in history. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation published on Tuesday found that the cuts, which will cost the Treasury almost £2.8bn, would overwhelmingly benefit wealthier households, with almost half the giveaway going to the top 10% of earners.
Surprisingly, and as the Guardian reports, McDonnell has managed to kick the ball into the stands. They say that he has sparked a backlash from Labour MPs by insisting that the party would not to oppose these tax cuts for higher earners.
“We’re not going to take money out of people’s pockets. Simple as that,” McDonnell said, despite pressure from some colleagues to oppose the giveaway, which was one of the most eye-catching measures in Philip Hammond’s pre-Brexit budget. That pressure covers the full range of opinion within the Labour Party:
Alison McGovern, the chair of the centre-left Progress group, which is associated with Labour, said: “We can’t support spending more on tax cuts for quite wealthy people than on dealing with the universal credit mess.”
The Tottenham MP David Lammy said: “These tax cuts leave a bitter taste in my mouth because they help high earners in the City far more than my constituents in Tottenham, some of whom this winter will be facing the choice between eating and heating. I believe it is a mistake for the Labour party to support this policy as it will lead to more inequality, not less.”
The home affairs select committee chair, Yvette Cooper, said: “This is wrong. I cannot support it.”
McDonnell, however, was unrepentant. “We’re not going to take funding away from people. Some of these are middle-earners, headteachers and people like that, who’ve had a rough time of it, as well as everyone else,” he said.
Instead of reversing Hammond’s giveaways, McDonnell said Labour would implement its own tax rises, including a new top rate of 45p for those earning over £80,000 a year, and reversing Conservative cuts to corporation tax.
“We want a fair taxation system, where the top 5% pay a bit more,” he said. In response to criticism from the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, who said the tax cuts would be “hard to justify at any time,” McDonnell said: “I completely understand where Andy’s coming from, but what we’re into is trying to ensure we have a fair taxation system based upon the new proposals on income tax that we’ve put forward, which he supported.”
When Labour, despite its left-wing rhetoric, is divided over whether to oppose measures that benefit the better-off then we know that they have lost the plot as an opposition.
