Boris savages Labour’s tax policy as a ‘ruthless attack on property’

BORIS Johnson has warned that Labour’s economic policies are “delusional” and an act of “grand larceny”.

The warning by the Foreign Secretary came as the Tories savaged Jeremy Corbyn’s triple tax whammy and highlighted how 10 million households will be hit by Labour’s “garden tax”.

Mr Johnson said that Corbyn’s plan to borrow £434billion will force up interest rates and increase average mortgage payments by £1,386 a year.

Meanwhile, the proposed garden tax will triple most council tax bills, adding on average £3,786 to the annual household tax bill, he said.

In some parts of the country the land value tax – which has been dubbed the “garden tax” because it disproportionately hits homes with gardens – would mean annual increases of more than £20,000 a year in tax.

Mr Johnson also pointed out that Labour’s plans to cut the higher threshold on inheritance tax, introduced by George Osborne in response to a Daily Express crusade to abolish the death tax, would land the average family with a £72,000 bill when their parents die.

Mr Johnson said: “This is a triple tax whammy, a ruthless attack on people’s property and possessions over their lifetimes.”

Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond assured voters that under the Tories taxes will be kept down.

He said: “I don’t think anybody doubts that we are committed to keeping taxes as low as possible. It’s in our DNA, whereas Labour is a party that actually believes in higher taxation.

“They don’t regard taxation as a bad thing or a necessary evil.

“They regard it as a positive something that they welcome. We will work hard to make sure that every penny the Government spends is well spent, prudently spent, carefully spent and we will keep taxation as low as possible.”

He added: “Our aim is to see the tax burden on working families and business falling, not rising. That’s a clear Conservative objective.”

Mr Hammond also warned that Labour’s plans to tax big business was in reality a raid on people’s pensions.

He said: “Labour’s pitch rests on the idea that there’s a tiny group of people that can just be taxed more and more and it will fund everything, plus corporations. But the problem is that corporations do not pay tax.

“Corporation tax is born either by shareholders, which are mostly pension funds – yours and my money – or by workers with fewer jobs, or by consumers in the form of higher prices.”