Now Starmer has defined a ‘working person’, what should we expect from the budget?
Speculation is mounting ahead of next week’s budget about what taxes could be raised or introduced.
The government has promised not to raise taxes that would affect “working people”, but has failed to define what that means.
Until last night, when Sir Keir Starmer sat down with our political editor Beth Rigby – which you can watch in full here…
Sir Keir said he believed a working person was somebody who “goes out and earns their living, usually paid in a sort of monthly cheque” but they did not have the ability to “write a cheque to get out of difficulties”.
Asked by Rigby whether he would classify a working person as someone whose income derived from assets, such as shares or property, the prime minister said: “Well, they wouldn’t come within my definition.”
Pressed on whether that meant taxes for those people could go up, the prime minister said: “You can probably give me any number of examples… you’re asking me for a definition of who’s a working person, and then you’re making assumptions about what that tax might be in relation to.”
His spokesperson clarified later that a person who holds a small amount of savings in stocks or shares still counts as a “working person”.
What does this mean for you?
Rigby says this morning that as a result of this interview, we are now a “bit clearer” on what the budget could look like.
Without a proper understanding of what a “working person” is, we’ve been unsure where Rachel Reeves and the government are going to place tax rises – which Rigby says are inevitable.
“Make no mistake, they will be raising taxes in the budget next week,” she says.
“The government have identified, according to my Treasury sources, a £40bn gap in the public finances – that’s going to have to be filled by tax rises, spending cuts, welfare cuts,” she adds.
Rigby says the prime minister has “opened the door” to a capital gains tax hike.
“His answer raises speculation that he is going to tax those who are selling chunks of shares or selling property, selling assets,” she says.
Watch Rigby speaking this morning…
