Rachel Reeves should 'consider her position' if going ahead with income tax freeze, says Mel Stride
The shadow Chancellor told LBC's Sunday with Lewis Goodall that the move would violate her manifesto promise
Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride has told LBC he believes Rachel Reeves should "consider her position" if she freezes income tax thresholds in the Budget.
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Speaking to Sunday with Lewis Goodall, the MP for Central Devon said that freezing income tax thresholds would be a violation of her manifesto promises.
"We're talking specifically here about the Rachel Reeves situation, which is one of a breach of the manifesto commitment if that is what she does. And it does seem highly likely," he said.
"And I think under those circumstances not only should she apologise, I think she should consider her position actually, because she will have been in a position where she has clearly breached her manifesto commitments not to increase taxes on working people."
The freeze is reportedly being considered by the chancellor as she seeks to plug an estimated £30 billion black hole in the public finances.
Sir Mel was also dismissive of the Chancellor's recent claims that she was tired of being "mansplained" to - a colloquial term for men explaining something to a woman in a condescending or patronising way.
"That is just smoke, mirrors and chaff to distract from the fact that the economy is in a terrible state," he said.
"Look, all of these issues are nothing to do with gender. They're to do with economic mismanagement and whether Rachel's a man or a woman doesn't make any difference".
Read more: Chancellor 'to scrap two-child benefit cap' and pledge welfare reform in Budget
Following the speculation circulating around a freeze in income tax, Sir Keir Starmer was targeted on the possibility during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, but did not directly address the likelihood of the Chancellor extending them beyond 2028.
Freezing income taxes - considered a "stealth tax" - would keep the monetary thresholds at which people start paying income tax, or move into a higher tax bracket, at a fixed cash value, rather than increasing them in line with inflation or average earnings.
This means that workers might be pushed into a higher tax bracket as their wages rise with inflation, despite not receiving a pay rise in real-world terms.
The potential freeze has caused controversy ahead of the Budget, after Labour's general election promises stated the Labour party would not increase taxes on "working people" - including national insurance, income tax and VAT.
The government was previously accused of breaking their pledge on national insurance by increasing the amount paid by employers - although Labour deflected this, saying the promise only applied to employees.
The current freeze in thresholds is due to expire in 2028. It was originally announced by the Conservative government in the Spring 2021 budget, partially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sir Mel also spoke with Lewis on other potential Budget announcements, including the scrapping of the two-child benefit.
"The best way out of poverty is through work, is not through benefits."
"I don't think it's unreasonable that people that get up in the morning, work very long hours, strive hard, earn their money, pay their tax, have to take tough decisions about the size of the family that they can afford".
When questioned about the position of the Conservative Party 18 months on from the last election, Sir Mel said: "We have got a journey that we've got to go on. We lost an election, a record loss for us about 18 months ago.
"There was a visceral anger towards our party for a variety of reasons. What we've got to concentrate on under Kemi's leadership is holding this government to account.
"But we've also got to come up with the answers to the fundamental challenges that our country faces. And we're doing that hard work."