The UK’s future prosperity depends on boosting economic growth rather than raising taxes, according to Labour’s national campaign coordinator Pat McFadden.
He told Camilla Tominey on GB News: “I gave many interviews during the campaign and was asked many questions about tax and the answers have not changed. We will not increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT.
“There is nothing in our platform that requires taxes other than the two or three other small things that we mentioned. Our basic proposal is not that if we win the election to come to power, we should think about taxes. Our basic proposal is how do we make the economy stronger?
“This debate didn’t come up enough in the election. How do we get more investment? How do we build more homes? How do we get more people to work?”
“Because the reality is that taxes here and taxes there, which has been the subject of so much debate in this election, are not really going to change the fortunes of the UK very much, and they’re not really going to change the fortunes of individual households very much.
“The only way to achieve that and the only way to prevent us falling behind similar households in France, Germany and the Netherlands is to have a stronger economy. That is the essence of our election manifesto, not so much tax proposals.”
Asked whether Labor would try to reverse the Brexit referendum result in secret, he said: “We don’t want to bring that argument back. We’ve been through a lot since 2016.”
“I voted to remain in the EU in the referendum, but I accept the result and the leadership task now, for whoever wins the election on Thursday, is to achieve the best possible future outside the EU. And that is what we want to do.
“We don’t want to repeat that argument. Britain has made its decision. Now I think we can have good, positive relations with our neighbours. And I think when you see Russia invade Ukraine, you realize we have a lot in common with the democracies of Western Europe.”
He said the negative public perception of politicians in general was to blame for Keir Starmer’s unpopularity: “I think faith in politics has probably taken a step back in recent years.
I don’t think the opposition party is really responsible for this because we haven’t been running the country for 14 years.
“And indeed, that’s why when it comes to the statement that we put out, so many people have said to me in interviews like this over the last month or so, why don’t you promise more, why don’t you promise to do this, why don’t you promise to do that?
“The answer is, first and foremost, to be aware of the situation that we are going to inherit – the country is in a difficult economic situation, so we wanted to make sure that what we said we were going to do could be done and we would say exactly how we were going to pay for it.”
Regarding transgender rights, he was asked if David Lammy was right in saying that men can grow cervixes, and he said: “I don’t think that’s true.”