Chancellor accused of “fanning the flames” following pound’s drop 

Rachel Reeves said yesterday (26 September) at the Labour Party Conference that, if elected, the Labour Party would use revenue from the 45% income tax rate announced last week to fund growth in the NHS.  

The Government last week announced an emergency Mini-Budget, which, among other things, declared their intention to take the basic rate of income tax down by 1pt to 19 from 20, and take the top rate down to 45%, as well as reversing April’s rise in national insurance.  

Cutting income tax and reversing national insurance rises have proved popular, but economic uncertainty still looms, with many voters feeling that the budget doesn’t go far enough to help struggling households. 

This comes as the latest Ipsos Political Monitor, taken September 7th to 15th 2022, puts the Conservative Party 15pts ahead of Labour on the economy, while Labour lead by 15pts on reducing the cost-of-living for UK households.  

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, speaking to The Guardian, said: “The failure to have an OBR assessment shows the economy is being run by ideology, not a plan,” 

Davey continued: “They clearly don’t want the evidence, because that would be unhelpful to their argument. And that should trouble everybody.”