Tory chairman slaps down Chancellor’s claim that block on tax rises hitting hard-working Brits ‘tied his hands’
Mr McLoughlin does not agree that the Chancellor's hands are tied following Cameron's 2015 tax lock
A CABINET split over the Chancellor’s tax policy erupted last night as the Tory Party chairman slapped down Philip Hammond.
Asked whether he agreed with the Chancellor’s view that the 2015 tax lock had “tied his hands” in running the nation’s finances, Patrick McLoughlin said: “No.”
And he said that while the Chancellor had expressed what he’d like to do, it would be up to the Cabinet to agree manifesto policies.
The blast came two days after the Chancellor sent the Tory Party machine into a tailspin by hinting a tax lock ruling out increases in income tax, VAT or National Insurance would be scrapped.
It sparked claims the Tories could revive a Budget Day raid on White Van Man by upping NI on self-employed workers once more.
Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green desperately tried to draw a line under the row yesterday by insisting the Tories wouldn’t be targeting strivers.
He said: “We haven’t had a go at people on low incomes, indeed we have specifically tried to and been successful in supporting them at a time when the public finances have had extreme difficulty.
“So of course that’s what we, that's what a Conservative Government, a re-elected Conservative Government would continue to want to do.”
David Cameron introduced the Tax Lock at the height of the 2015 Election campaign – ruling out any increase in tax between 2015 and 2020.