Boris blasted over ‘tax breaks for rich’

Rivals tear into his £10bn pledge to cut bills for millions

BORIS Johnson’s pledge to slash income tax for higher earners rebounded on him yesterday.

Leadership rivals warned that his £10billion plan to raise the threshold for the 40p rate from £50,000 to £80,000 would reinforce claims that Tories favour the rich.

The change would hand the biggest sums to wealthy pensioners and see MPs on a salary of £79,468 better off by £2,947.

At his campaign launch yesterday, Michael Gove took aim at the policy as he declared: ‘The poor must come first.’ The Environment Secretary, who has proposed replacing VAT with a sales tax, pledged: ‘One thing I will never do as prime minister is to use our tax and benefits system to give the already wealthy another tax cut.’

Andrea Leadsom, the former Commons leader, said Mr Johnson would not be able to get the tax cut through ‘because of the parliamentary arithmetic’. ‘ In my opinion it’s not feasible to have significant tax changes in the life of this Parliament – that would have to wait until after a general election,’ she said. Mrs Leadsom argued that ‘the proceeds of our extraordinarily successful economy’ instead should be shared ‘between spending on schools and policing, and at the same time tackling debts so we’re not leaving them for our children and grandchildren’.

Matt hancock said he wanted to ‘see reductions in tax that benefit everybody, all working people, rather than being specifically targeted’. The health Secretary said there was a ‘big role for reductions in tax when they can be afforded’ – but said his priority was to keep debt falling.

International Development Secretary Rory Stewart accused Mr Johnson of not thinking through the tax cut. he said: ‘ We must restore – for Britain, and for the Conservative Party – our reputation for economic and fiscal prudence. We simply cannot make spending and tax cut promises that we can’t keep.’ he accused his leadership rivals of promising tax cuts that combined are worth an ‘eye-watering’ £83billion in recent days. Dominic Raab, who has promised to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 15p over five years alongside a reduction in the higher rate to 35p, said Mr Johnson’s plan would be perceived as only helping the rich.

The former Brexit Secretary said: ‘Can you imagine going to the house of Commons with a tax cut, which rightly or wrongly will be caricatured as benefiting people who are well-off?

‘Or we go to the house of Commons and confront Jeremy Corbyn with a tax cut which would help those people in Labour marginal seats. I think this is the right thing to do, but I think politically it is also the smart thing to do.’

The Resolution Foundation think tank estimated that 83 per cent of the gains from Mr Johnson’s tax cut would go to the top 10 per cent of households.

But Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, who is supporting Mr Johnson, last night claimed his policy was ‘spot on’. She tweeted: ‘When Nigel Lawson set the top rate of income tax in 1988 it was meant to be for higher earners. In 1990, 1.7million earners were caught by it – now it is 4.2million.’

Mr Johnson’s plan would leave higher earners in Scotland out of pocket as they would not benefit from the income tax changes, which are a devolved matter, while being hit by increased national insurance contributions, which are controlled by Westminster.

Scottish Tory MP John Lamont, who is backing Jeremy hunt, said: ‘This ill thought-out plan to hike taxes in Scotland looks more like something Nicola Sturgeon would plan rather than something a Conservative should go near.

‘We need someone who can unite people, not someone whose plans aren’t properly thought-through.’

A YouGov snap poll last night found the public were split, with 40 per cent against the plan and 36 per cent in favour.

But among Tory voters, 47 per cent said they supported it compared to 31 per cent who were opposed. Meanwhile, a survey for the Centre for Social Justice found that 72 per cent of low income voters

‘Can’t make promises we can’t keep’

believe the Tory Party is ‘unconcerned’ about them.

More than half (52 per cent) said that Conservatives ‘don’t understand what it is like to struggle’ and 57 per cent said the party ‘only cares about the rich’.

Mr Johnson’s campaign was last night boosted by the backing of four Tory MPs in marginal seats previously held by Labour.

Justice minister Robert Buckland, work and pensions minister Justin Tomlinson, Craig Mackinlay and henry Smith hailed Mr Johnson as the best candidate to beat Jeremy Corbyn.

Their endorsements take the number of Tory MPs who have backed Mr Johnson to 68 – double Michael Gove’s 34 and ahead of Jeremy hunt’s 32.

‘Benefiting the well-off’

AS the Tory leadership stakes began in earnest yesterday, almost all the riders concentrated their efforts on unseating the hot favourite.

With the other main front runner Michael Gove valiantly trying to recover from his cocaine confession, there’s no doubt Boris Johnson is the one to beat.

But clearly this will not be a cosy coronation. If yesterday’s opening exchanges are anything to go by, he’s in for a very rough ride indeed.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was first up, backed by an impressive team of Cabinet ministers from across the Brexit spectrum. Remain- inclined Amber Rudd and staunch Eurosceptics Penny Mordaunt and Liam Fox fell in behind their man under a unifying ‘One Nation’ banner.

And Mr Hunt went straight for the throat, questioning Mr Johnson’s commitment and accusing him of preferring ‘empty rhetoric’ to Brexit realism. ‘These are serious times. They require a serious leader,’ he said pointedly.

Mr Gove later joined the assault, saying Mr Johnson was hiding in a bunker instead of joining the debate and risked propelling Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street with his cavalier advocacy of No Deal.

Meanwhile, two other candidates – Dominic Raab and Matt Hancock – tore into Mr Johnson’s plan to raise the higherrate tax threshold from £50,000 to £80,000, saying it would reinforce the Tories’ reputation as ‘the party of privilege’.

In normal times, for prospective Tory leaders to denounce the idea of tax cuts would seem perverse. But they have a wider agenda. Stop Boris at any price.

So where is he? Why is the great communicator not fighting back against his critics and laying out his vision for Brexit and beyond?

Usually he positively craves media attention, bringing bravura to his appearances and winning backers from all political backgrounds – as his Leave campaign victory demonstrated.

Yet for weeks now, he has been stuck in his trench, dribbling out vague policy ideas through his weekly newspaper column and a short campaign video.

If he wants to win, this bunker mentality is simply not good enough. Even though he’s the favourite, he can’t just sit back and hope to win by default.

Theresa May tried that in the 2017 general election – with disastrous consequences

Mr Johnson owes us a full prospectus. He must explain in detail how he would achieve an honourable Brexit, solve the Irish backstop conundrum and, if necessary, drive a No Deal outcome through a Remainer-dominated Parliament.

His strongest selling point is his ability to engage and inspire. But he can’t do that hiding behind the sofa.

This paper, our readers, and the party are waiting, Boris. Show us what you’ve got!