Cabinet tussle over scrapping Cameron’s promise on tax rises

THE Cabinet was at odds last night over whether to scrap David Cameron’s manifesto promise not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT.

Conservative Party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin publicly slapped down Chancellor Philip Hammond for claiming that the tax lock was hindering the running of Britain’s economy.

During a trip to Washington DC on Friday, Mr Hammond suggested that the tax freeze would be ditched.

‘It was self-evidently clear that the commitments that were made in the 2015 manifesto did and do today constrain the ability to manage the economy flexibly,’ he said.

But asked yesterday whether or not he agreed, Sir Patrick said: ‘No.’

He told the Sunday Politics programme on BBC1 yesterday: ‘The simple fact is that what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to do the best things for the economy, and we will be setting out in our manifesto in a few weeks’ time what the policies will be for the next Parliament.’

Pressed to clarify his disagreement with the Chancellor’s position, he said: ‘Well, Philip has expressed his view as to what he would like.

‘What I am saying is in a few weeks’ time we will set the manifesto out which will set the policies out and which will be agreed by the Cabinet.’

Last month, Mr Hammond was forced to abandon his Budget proposal to increase National Insurance for self-employed workers after he was accused of breaking the tax pledge set out by Mr Cameron and his chancellor George Osborne in the 2015 Conservative manifesto.

At the weekend, Theresa May sought to scotch claims that the Conservatives were planning a post-election tax increase, insisting the Tories remained the party of ‘lower taxes’. But she refused to repeat the 2015 manifesto pledge.

At an election campaign event in Dudley in the West Midlands on Saturday, the Prime Minister said voters faced a choice when they voted on June 8 between ‘lower taxes under the Conservatives or higher taxes under Labour’.

She told supporters: ‘At this election, people are going to have a very clear choice.

‘They will have a choice between a Conservative Party which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes, in keeping taxes down for ordinary working people.

‘Or the choice is a Labour Party whose natural instinct is always to raise taxes.

‘That’s the choice – lower taxes under the Conservatives or higher taxes under Labour.’