Johnson interrogated over tax rises in PMQs

Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of prioritising tax cuts to help with the Conservative re-election campaign over helping families through the cost-of-living crisis.

During a noisy Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour’s leader charged Johnson with cynically timing an income tax cut in 2024, when the next general election is due to take place. “That’s not taking difficult decisions, it’s putting the Tory re-election campaign over and above helping people pay their bills”, he said.

Johnson replied: “We would have to tax more and borrow more and they [Labour] cannot be trusted, Mr Speaker, with the economy.”

Starmer laid into the prime minister over the government’s plan to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. Labour’s leader asked: “15 tax rises the highest tax burden for 70 years. For every six pounds they’re taking in tax rises. They’re only having one pound per minister. Is that cutting taxes? Or is that raising taxes?”

Johnson responded: “I don’t know where he’s been for the last two years… this is a government that is getting on with reducing the tax burden wherever we can.”

Referencing the first fixed penalty notices issued by the Metropolitan Police yesterday over Partygate, Starmer quipped: “I can only hope that his police questionnaire was bit more convincing than that”.