Union leader Sir Keir Starmer (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)
Sir Keir Starmer has warned Westminster markets are being spooked by “chaos” as reports say the Chancellor is considering tax hikes of up to £20billion in the much-anticipated Halloween budget.
The Labor leader also urged disaffected Tory MPs to put the interests of the British people first as he warned the “psychodrama” in their party was “no game” for people fighting to find out about the to make ends meet.
Sir Keir told the Sunday Times that Labor would be “the party of sound money” and claimed there were investors with “huge amounts of money” who had no confidence in the “Shambolic” Conservatives.
The newspaper said it had pointed to evidence suggesting UK government bond yields had risen sharply following news that Boris Johnson was returning to the UK to sound out another attempt at No. 10.
Jeremy Hunt could reportedly target high earners in his medium-term fiscal plan to plug an estimated £40bn black hole in public finances.
The Chancellor is said to intend to raise up to £20bn by raising taxes, possibly including a tightening of the capital gains regime.
He could also reintroduce green taxes on energy bills, according to the Sunday Telegraph, while savings could come from scrapping the plan to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP.
Sir Keir told the Sunday Times: “Markets are now reacting to even more uncertainty which is a direct result of this Tory government.
“This kamikaze mini-budget will not just be a footnote in a history book. People are paying the price: if your mortgage has gone up, if you don’t have a fixed-rate mortgage, you’re now paying how many hundreds of extra pounds a month.
“This has cost the public a great deal and I’ll tell you what will stabilize the markets, it’s a new Labor government with Rachel Reeves as Chancellor and budget rules absolutely clear.”
He argued the risk was in “continuing with this mess” rather than moving to a Labor government.
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“I think there’s a strong feeling now that we need a general election and that the public can’t be left out of it while the Tories continue this circus,” he added.
In a message to disaffected Tory MPs, when veteran backbencher Sir Roger Gale warned that a return from Johnson would trigger a wave of resignations, the Labor leader said: “Country first, party second.
“All those who are going to literally join in this mess, rather than allowing us to transition to a stable Labor government, are putting party first, not country first, and that is the wrong way to go.
“We all have a duty to reduce risk, and do it with a general election.
“There’s a lot of interest in this psychodrama but for people who are struggling to pay their bills, people who have mortgages that are now higher than they would have been, people who need the NHS, it’s not a game.
“And the more this goes on, it’s working people, it’s the public, who are being harmed by this.”
Sir Keir also said Labor would “restore” respect for the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England.
“We need a serious, credible, party of solid money Labor government that is most likely to calm the market completely,” he said.
“The markets aren’t just some abstract chart that we’re looking at…there are investors with vast amounts of money who don’t have confidence in what this messy, messy party is doing.”