The UK’s biggest raft of tax cuts in decades is a “reckless and irresponsible” gamble, Labour MPs in the North East have warned.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled huge plans on Friday to abolish the top rate of income tax for the highest earners, cut income tax and stamp duty, lift a cap on bankers’ bonuses, reverse a rise in National Insurance, and cancel a hike in corporation tax in a bid to drive growth. But Labour has claimed the measures, to be paid for by more than £70bn in borrowing, will reward the richest and amounted to “replacing levelling up with trickle down” while the nation is in the midst of a cost of living crisis.
Newcastle North MP Catherine McKinnell took aim at the new government’s proposals, which came in the week that it emerged that the child poverty gap between the North East and the rest of the UK has hit a 20-year high.
