Andrew Neil ripped into Labour over its “working people” definition as he warned the party is about to be “clobbered” in the Budget. Sir Keir Starmer’s party promised in its manifesto not to hike taxes for “working people”, but the pledge sparked widespread confusion over who its includes.
Mr Neil said recent revelations of a definition used by the Treasury, which is those earning under £45,000, would “come as a surprise to, say, plumbers and plasterers”. In a fiery monologue on his Times Radio show, he said: “Nor is it clear why £46,000 is the magic dividing line.
“The full-time median salary these days is £39,000 and about seven million make more than it.
“So most of them will no longer be classified as working people, even if they’re long-serving police constables or firemen or senior nurses.”
Branding it “nonsense”, he went on: “Labour got its knickers in a twist because it didn’t want to use the term ‘working class’, which was too 20th century.
“So it came up with the vaguer formulation of ‘working people’, even if it didn’t really know who it was talking about.
“Now, as the Budget looms at the end of this month, it’s looking at a myriad of ways to tax people more while still trying to claim it’s not raising the taxes of working people.
“Nobody will be fooled. But if you’re on a decent enough salary but don’t think of yourself as wealthy — and are pretty certain you are a working person — then brace yourself, you’re about to be clobbered.”
It comes amid intense speculation over tax rises ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget later this month.
There are reports that Ms Reeves could increase income tax as she looks to fill a £30billion black hole in the public finances.
The Prime Minister last week refused to stand by Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, National Insurance or VAT.