Andrew Griffith is in North London for his first speech as Shadow Chancellor. He has made headlines this week after suggestions that the Tories will promise to scrap or cut Inheritance Tax at conference. Kemi confirmed she was looking at the hated levy…
In a trail Griffith said he wanted to simplify taxation, which drew ire from Robert Jenrick, who said:
“Andrew Griffith was the very person who abolished the office for tax simplification after the tax code ballooned to 23,000 pages – why on earth would anyone believe him now? After making IR35 worse, freezing VAT thresholds and imposing reams of red tape, businesses won’t forget the Tories’ betrayal.
Simply asking Labour not to raise taxes isn’t enough. Britain needs a radical change in direction not more hollow talk from a stale Tory opposition that had every opportunity to fix the system and failed.”
Andy Haldane, Burnham’s recent adviser on the economy who has not taken up a No10 job, told Andrew Marr on LBC:
“The market now suspects that this is a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos…
imposing windfall taxes on oil & gas or on banks or upping capital gains tax would […] repeat the mistake that Rachel made […] The Achilles heel, the fiscal Achilles heel of this government thus far has been its unwillingness and/or inability to cut public spending.”