BILLIONAIRES are backing Sir Keir Starmer because they are the only ones who can afford his tax hikes, Rishi Sunak has claimed .
The PM hit back after John Caudwell, a donor who endorsed Boris Johnson at the last election, announced he would be voting for Labour on July 4.
GettyRishi Sunak on the campaign trail[/caption]
AlamyPhones4U founder John Caudwell handed the Tories £500,000 in 2019 but said Rishi Sunak is an ‘absolute dud’[/caption]
The billionaire co-owner of Man United Sir Jim Ratcliffe is also supporting Sir Keir as he says voters have “had enough” of Mr Sunak’s policies.
Responding to the news, the PM insisted the choice of the two fat-cat moguls was driven by their ability to handle higher taxes.
He told LBC: “They are two of Britain’s richest men, they can probably afford Labour’s tax rises.
“But for tens of millions of people who are working really hard, they can’t.
“And I want to cut people’s taxes. That’s what I’m wanting to do for this country.”
The PM also slammed Sir Keir for not ruling out “whacking everyon’es council tax up”, adding: “I’m not going to do that. I want to cut people’s taxes at every stage of their life and that’s a choice for everyone at this election.”
The Labour boss was yesterday plunged into a day of tax chaos after a barrage of mixed messages from his top team.
He was caught in the crossfire as shadow cabinet ministers went rogue over a football transfer levy and council tax and fuel duty rises.
Shadow Sports Secretary Thangam Debbonaire sparked reports Labour could introduce a football tax on Monday.
But on Tuesday morning, Sir Keir killed off the idea, telling it was “not part of our plans for football governance”.
He also did not categorically rule out revaluing council tax bands, saying: “None of our plans require a tax rise and that is for a reason and the reason is our focus on getting our economy going.”
It also comes as a dossier drawn up by Labour MPs has emerged proposing six new tax rises to raise £60 billion.
The proposals are from the party’s Tribune group – of which Sir Keir Starmer is a member – and set out increases to inheritance tax, capital gains taxes and a new “jackpot” levy on the super-rich.
Under the plans, working pensioners could also be forced to pay national insurance (NI), council tax could be reformed and the cap on NI could be removed.
The document was seen by the Daily Mail and submitted as part of discussions about what would go in Labour’s manifesto.
A Labour spokesman told the newspaper Sir Keir had “nothing to do with” the submission and that it was rejected at an early stage of manifesto deliberations.
The spokesman said: “None of this is Labour policy.
“The Tories are the party of high taxes. Labour will ensure taxes on working people are as low as possible.”
A new poll from Ipsos Mori shows Labour to win a record majority of 256 according to a large-scale online poll of nearly 20,000 participants.
But in encouraging news for the Tories it shows that 120 seats are still too close to call.
The survey puts Labour on 453 seats and the Tories on 115 seats.