The Labour party have used the Conservatives silence on any meaningful policy to announce a series of policies, that might prove popular. Since Boris Johnson’s failed G7 mission, Grayling’s latest prison policy having lost in court and Theresa May’s outrage at Cadbury over Easter. The Conservatives have been silent, especially since Article 50 was triggered. Labour have capitalised on this silence and with a series of popular policies, this could spark a revival in fortunes for Corbyn and his leadership.
The latest policy is to close the £36bn tax gap by clamping down on ‘sweetheart deals’.
After successive governments have pledged to tackle the issue of Tax Avoidance. Many commentators and the public alike have been disappointed by the lack of results.
Labour’s policy detail
Labours Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, said that if Labour were to win the 2020 general election, they would “close the loopholes through which large corporations swindle the public” and stated that the gap that large corporations should be paying in tax and what the exchequer receives amounts to approximately £36bn. He also said that Labour would force big companies to publish their full tax returns to expose any sweetheart deals that they may arrange with the taxman to reduce their tax bill.
Under the plans presented by Labour, they will force any company that has a turnover of at least £36m or 250 or more employees to fill out a complete tax return at Companies House along with annual returns.
The Conservative party vice-chairman responded stating that since 2010 they have gained an additional £140bn in tax revenue, this amounts to just £20bn a year and the latest tax cut for large corporations amounts to approximately £20bn extra for them. With corporation tax falling from 28% under Labour to 19% under the Conservatives with a further 2-point drop to 17% expected in the next budget.
A compassionate Conservative lie
The move by Labour is positive and when Easter recess is over and they return on Tuesday, Labour plan to push for further measures to strengthen the ability to combat tax avoidance in the finance bill. The Conservatives have often produced policy that states it’ll do a significant amount to tackle the issue however, it often leads to further inaction.
The above statistics show that the £140bn they have claimed to have gained from tax revenue has been spent of further tax cuts for those companies, meaning they are handing the money straight back.
Whilst they hand £20bn to those companies they have cut the benefit PIP to make it harder for disabled people to get around. They have cut this benefit that many people rely on to just be able to do daily and basic tasks. Whilst recent government figures have shown that they are spending more money on policing the benefit changes than is being saved by changing them. The Conservative vice-chairman who responded to Labour’s plans by saying “All Labour would do now is wreck the economy with higher taxes, half a trillion in additional borrowing and a leader who says we should not be afraid of debt.”
The irony is that the Conservative government since 2010 have spent more than any other Labour government combined, and have a worse fiscal history when in government than Labour but because they are under attack rather than present any meaningful evidence, the resort to petty untruths and rhetoric designed to undermine public confidence in the opposition.
These policies must show that Labour are serious because a latest poll suggests that Labour are 21 points behind the conservatives, but when asked it is generally accepted that the public agrees with Labour policy when no affiliation is suggested.
