Tory Minister Challenged With Sky News Analysis That Households Faced A £13,000 Tax Hike Under His Party

 

Pensions Minister Mel Stride was pressed by Sky News host Kay Burley on Thursday on figures that suggest households have paid more in extra taxes under Tory government than the £2,000 tax hike Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warns will happen under Labour.

Sunak repeated the line 12 times during Tuesday’s ITV debate with Labour leader Keir Starmer, an attack line he was hoping would stick with the public but which has come under intense scrutiny.

Two days later the claim continues to plague party representatives on the media rounds. Labour have accused Sunak of “lying” and on Wednesday the Treasury’s chief civil servant said the statistic “should not be presented as having been produced by the civil service.”

On Thursday, doing the press rounds, Stride struggled as Burley challenged him with Sky News economics editor Ed Conway’s analysis that, if figures are added up in the same way that Sunak’s Labour tax figure was calculated, under Tory government households experienced a hike of “£13,000 extra in taxes.”

Burley began: “Our economics editor, Ed Conway, has looked into the data. He’s very clever at it. And he found that since 2019, we’ve all experienced £13,000 of extras in taxes if we were to add things up the same way that you’ve added things up for Labour. So, in other words, the Tories have cost us an extra £13,000… since the last election.”

Stride replied: “So what has happened, Kate, is that this country…

The host added: “It’s a lot more than £2,000, isn’t it?”

The minister continued: “Just hear me out for a second.

“It’s a lot more than £2,000. I think we can agree on that,” Burley said, seeking a concession.

Stride said: “This is important, yes, but it’s another number out of context that I haven’t had a chance to properly look at.”

The minister went on to point to crises that the Tory government have faced. He pointed to the Covid pandemic, which shrank the economy by a 10 percent, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has caused inflation to spike over 11 percent.

He added: “So we have seen some tax increases, but the trajectory now, Kate, is downward.

Burley said: “Some tax increases? £13,000 extra.”

Steering the conversation to a further attack on Labour, Stride added: “Let’s talk about what’s happening now and what’s going to happen going forward… we’ve had a one-third cut in national insurance for 29 million people, worth £900 for an average earner. On pensions… if we’re elected [we’ll implement] the triple lock plus, which will keep pensioners out of income tax – unlike Labour, who will not do that. Under Labour, you will see millions of pensioners paying income tax, on their state pension for the first time, and we don’t think that’s right.

Burley paused to restate the statistic presented: “£13,000 extra in taxes, I mean, that is an actual fact.”

Watch above on Sky News.

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