THE Tories have been slammed for “clobbering” the public with the highest tax hikes seen since at least the second world war.
Labour criticised the government for overseeing 13 years of low growth and stagnant wages after the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) found taxes will likely have risen to around 37 per cent of national income by the next general election.
Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said: “Successive Tory government have overseen 13 years of low growth and stagnant wages.
“Their response in the face of this bankrupt legacy is always to load their failure onto working people. And what are we getting back? Crumbling public services.
“Brits are working hard but getting clobbered with 25 Tory tax rises and a continuing Conservative premium on their household budgets.”
He added: “The IFS data shows that the population is generally getting older, and when you get a bit older, you need more help from the health and social care system.”
The think tank said the tax spike — from 33 per cent of national income four years ago — was equivalent to around £3,500 more per household, a rise no Parliament has seen since comparable records began in the 1950s.
IFS senior research economist Ben Zaranko said: “It is inconceivable that this Parliament will turn out to be anything other than a tax-raising one — and it looks nailed on to be the biggest tax-raising Parliament since at least the second world war.
“This is not, for the most part, a direct consequence of the pandemic. Rather, it reflects decisions to increase government spending, in part driven by demographic change, pressures on the health service, and some unwinding of austerity.
“It is likely that this Parliament will mark a decisive and permanent shift to a higher-tax economy.”
Senior Treasury minister Andrew Griffith said the government would stick to its spending plans in the face of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt coming under increasing pressure from Conservative backbenchers to cut taxes.
He said: “I think that the economy runs best when it has stability, which is our focus right now, bringing down inflation, which is a tax rise by another name.”
Labour has refused to commit to tax cuts if it wins the next election.
The Treasury said the latest data showed Britain’s tax burden will remain lower than any major European economy.
