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A Tory income tax cut for millionaires cost Britain £11billion which could have been invested in the NHS, police and schools.

Then-Chancellor George Osborne slashed the top rate of income tax for those earning a million a year from 50p to 45p six years ago.

The cut could have paid for an extra 30,000 nurses, 15,000 police officers, 20,000 teachers and 10,000 police community support officers every year for five years, analysis by union Unison found.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “It’s downright disgusting that public services have lost out on billions of pounds, while the richest in this country have benefitted handsomely from the government’s tax policies.

“The claim that there’s no money for public services has a hollow ring given the revenue the government could have raised. That is if ministers hadn’t been more interested in giving the country’s millionaires a huge tax cut.

“The increasing pressure on public services is repeatedly being blamed on staff shortages. These billions could have paid for thousands more nurses, teachers and police community support officers.”

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

Between 15,000 and 19,000 taxpayers earned more than £1million a year since the 2013 cut.

Unison said the richest have seen their tax bill fall by more than £650,000 on average. Mr Prentis added: “It’s downright disgusting that public services have lost out on billions of pounds, while the richest have benefited handsomely.”

The analysis comes after Labour revealed the cost of corporation tax cuts since the first austerity Budget in 2010 was forecast to be £110billion.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said: “Tory austerity has meant big money giveaways for big business and the super-rich and big cuts for the rest of us, with schools begging parents for cash, police taken off our streets, and our NHS and social care in crisis.

“The next Labour government will transform our society so it works for the many, not the few. We’ll invest in our communities instead of cutting the services we all rely on, and we’ll fund it by asking the top 5% of earners and large corporations to pay more.”