McDonnell: Labour won’t oppose tax cuts for higher earners

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has caused a stir amongst his fellow Labour MPs by stating that Labour would not oppose the tax cuts for higher earners, which were introduced by Philip Hammond in Monday’s Autumn budget.

Responding to calls from MPs to oppose the cuts, the shadow chancellor said that Labour would not “take money out of people’s pockets”.

Hammond announced in his budget speech that the government would raise the personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher-rate threshold to £50,000.

McDonnell told the BBC’s Today Programme: “We will support the tax cuts at the moment on the basis that it will inject some demand into the economy.

“But we put forward in the general election a fairer taxation system so that does mean that we will be asking the top 5 per cent to pay a bit more in income tax and we will be rolling back many of the corporation tax cuts that have taken place, and we will be cracking down on tax evasion and tax avoidance.”

However, Tottenham MP David Lammy, and Labour’s mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, have both said that Labour should not be supporting the tax cuts, with Burnham adding that he was “at a loss to understand why we are doing this”.

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, tweeted on Monday: “There we are – tax cuts for the rich and they are coming sooner.”

The Resolution Foundation concluded on Monday that the chancellor’s income tax cuts announced in the budget would “overwhelmingly benefit richer households”, claiming that 84 per cent of the cuts will go to the top half of the income distribution in the UK.

Justine Greening hints at leadership bid

Former secretary of state for education Justine Greening has told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that “Things need to change”, in an interview where she hinted that she was considering a leadership bid herself.

Speaking to the programme on Tuesday, Greening said: “I am committed to doing whatever I can to make sure this country, for the first time, is a place where it doesn’t matter where you are growing up, you get the same opportunities.”

Asked if she would consider going for the Conservative leadership if it was vacant, she said: “I might be prepared to, but I’m more interested in the Conservative party actually showing what it can do for this country.”

May: There will be no second referendum on Brexit

Theresa May has addressed the demand from the public for a second referendum on the Brexit deal, telling a summit in Oslo that “there will be no second referendum.”

Support for a ‘People’s Vote’ on the Brexit deal which is brought to parliament has grown since the referendum, climaxing in 670,000 people taking to the streets of London earlier this month in a ‘People’s Vote March’.

However, speaking at a summit in the Norwegian capital, May said: “There will be no second referendum on Brexit.”

The statement came as Theresa May struck a Brexit deal with Norway at the Oslo summit to protect the rights of each other’s citizens after Brexit.

Leaders from both countries announced at the summit that citizens will be able to legally remain abroad even if there is no withdrawal agreement reached with the EU.

Norway’s PM Erna Solberg said: “Prime Minister May and I agreed that Norway and UK will put in place a comprehensive citizens rights’ agreement,”

Will there be an early general election?

The giveaways seen in the chancellor’s budget on Monday suggested to many that the government is gearing up to call a snap election.

Labour’s Shadow chancellor John McDonnell seems to think the tax cuts seen in Monday’s budget are a tell-tale sign. He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The Tories usually do this. “If a general election is coming, what they’ll do is they’ll splash out some money and then if they win the election they then start cutting it back again.”

On Tuesday, the PM put her foot down on it, stating: “We are not preparing for another general election. “That would not be in the national interest.”

However, May has gone back on her word before. In September 2016, she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “I think the next election will be in 2020… I’m not going to be calling a snap election”. Seven months later, she called a snap election, one which saw the Conservatives lose their parliamentary majority.

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