Labour frontbencher refuses to rule out property tax rises

A Labour frontbencher has left the door open to the party putting up property taxes. 

John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said Labour’s plans “do not require us to start looking at raising taxes across the board” but he refused to rule out rises on specific things like stamp duty and capital gains tax. 

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, has unveiled a new Tory pledge not to increase capital gains tax, stamp duty or the number of council tax bands and he has challenged Labour to make the same commitments. 

Mr Healey was asked repeatedly about those specific taxes this morning during an interview on Sky News but he failed to rule out Labour putting them up. 

He said: “We will not raise taxes on working people. We will not raise income tax, we will not raise VAT, we will not raise National Insurance. Our plans, beyond the specific tax rises and changes that we set out to pay for our first steps, our plans do not require us to start looking at raising taxes across the board.”

Asked if Labour could increase capital gains tax, Mr Healey said: “Our plans do not require us to start looking at raising…” 

Asked if Labour could increase stamp duty, he said: “We will not raise the taxes that are most important to working people…”

Asked again about increasing stamp duty, he said: “I am not going to go through the list. The taxes that are most important to people – income tax, VAT and National Insurance – will not be raised under a Labour government.”

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