£108billion
That’s how much McDonnell wants to spend to reverse austerity cuts
JOHN McDonnell yesterday refused five times to rule out fuel duty rises as he called for a £108billion spending bonanza to reverse all cuts made by the Tories since 2010.
The Shadow Chancellor repeatedly dodged questions on bringing back hated annual increases that would hit millions of motorists. However, he admitted Labour would need to raise taxes to fund its spending plans.
In the Budget on Monday, Chancellor Philip Hammond will announce that fuel duty will be frozen for the ninth year in a row. The tax is currently at 57.95p on a litre for petrol and diesel, while the average price of unleaded is £1.31 and £1.36 for diesel. Motorists also pay 20 per cent VAT on fuel.
Asked whether Labour would maintain the freeze if it came to power, Mr McDonnell told Sky News: ‘I want to see the detail of what he [Mr Hammond] is bringing forward and see whether or not there is something in that that might help in terms of tackling climate change.’
It came as the Tories yesterday warned that Labour’s economic plans would wipe £7,500 off the value of the average pension pot. Mr McDonnell is planning a financial transactions tax that would snatch 10 per cent of shares in all large British firms.
But the Conservatives estimated that the combined effect of the policies would be a £7,780 fall in the value of the average pension pot, which is £105,496 for a 55-year-old. Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mel Stride said: ‘Labour’s economic policy would cost billions. Under Labour, ordinary working people always pay the price.’
A party spokesman dismissed the Tory estimates as ‘fantasy figures plucked from thin air’.
Mr McDonnell yesterday warned that expected Budget spending increases will not be ‘anywhere near’ the scale required to reverse eight years of austerity under the Conservatives.
Sporting grazes on his face after tripping over fly-tipped rubbish, he said in a pre-Budget speech: ‘The real end of austerity is not just halting future planned cuts. It’s also reversing the cuts inflicted on our community by the Conservatives over the last eight hard years of austerity.’