Hand-out to high-earners shows Johnson out of touch - John McDonnell

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to Boris Johnson’s tax cut proposal, said:

“This hand-out to high earners, at a time when public services are crumbling, shows just how out of touch Boris Johnson is from the realities of life in this country.

“This money is more than what we spend every year on justice, or children’s social care – and Johnson wants to give that away to his wealthy friends.

“The Tories do not have the interests of the many at heart, and it’s now time for a general election, a Labour government, and a fairer society.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

• ·       If costed at £9.6 billion (as has been widely reported), the money spent on Boris Johnson’s proposed tax:
  • Could plug the massive hole in local government funding (£7.8 billion by 2025): https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/5.40_01_Finance%20publication_WEB_0.pdf
  • Is more than what is spent every year by local authorities on children’s social care (£7.6 billion), or the amount spent every year by the Ministry of Justice (£8.2 billion): https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/whitehall-monitor-2019/finances and https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/performance-tracker-2018/childrens-social-care)
  • Could pay for 159,360 social homes, according to figures from Shelter, which told the BBC that £1 billion could be spent on 16,600 social homes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32309311
• ·       Could pay for free personal care, costed by the King’s Fund and the Health Foundation at £6 billion, above and beyond maintaining 2015/16 levels: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-05/A-fork-in-the-road-next-steps-for-social-care-
• ·       The biggest beneficiaries as a proportion of their income will be those on £80,000 – coincidentally around about the salary of an MP[1]
• ·       According to the Resolution Foundation 83% of the gains from Boris Johnson’s proposed tax cuts would go to the richest ten per cent of households. Only 1 in 7 people earn enough to see any benefit.”
• ·       John McDonnell writing in the Observer yesterday https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/08/tory-obsession-tax-cuts-bankrupt-of-ideas--john-mcdonnell