Rachel Reeves is continuing Labour’s long-standing tradition of being utterly inconsistent on tax, though has now begun pirouetting on policy within the same interview. During her Today outing, the Shadow Chancellor slammed the Tories for having “fanned the flames… [with] more unfunded tax cuts, which has resulted overnight in the pound falling to an all-time low against the dollar.”

So far, so good…

Minutes later, however, she suggests Labour would pay to keep the new 19% basic rate of income tax by borrowing:

“In emergency situations – and we are absolutely in a national emergency at the moment – you can borrow”

Labour is mitigating this hypocrisy by claiming the difference between Labour and the Tories is that she would not borrow on the same scale as Kwasi and Truss. Labour have accepted two thirds of the personal income tax cuts. They are only rejecting one cut, the top rate cut…

Meanwhile, Guido also spots Rachel Reeves is now arguing that cancelling the planned corporation tax rise is “wrong”, and Labour wants to see the rate rise in April. This is the same Rachel Reeves that led Labour MPs through the No Lobby in 2021, opposing Rishi’s hike to Corporation Tax…