Shadow Chancellor to put focus on taxes in visit to Blackpool

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will visit Blackpool on Friday (April 5) to meet supporters and launch a poster campaign challenging government tax pledges which Labour claims will not leave people better off.

Ms Reeves will also be supporting Labour's candidate Chris Webb who is standing in the Blackpool South by-election.

At the spring budget, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the Tories were supporting households “with permanent cuts in taxation.”

But Labour says income tax and national insurance thresholds have been frozen under the Conservative government since 2021 meaning more people are paying higher rates. They have also been hit with rises in council tax.

Ms Reeves said: "Working people can see through the Tories’ tax con: it’s giving with one hand and taking with another."

Mr Webb said: "I've made supporting residents with the cost of living and creating good, well-paid jobs for local people front and centre of my campaign."

In the spring budget, Jeremy Hunt announced he would cut National Insurance by 2p in the pound for employees and the self-employed. Government officials said this was worth an average of £450 a year to 27 million workers.

The salary thresholds at which people start paying income tax and national insurance remain frozen - meaning people will pay more tax as their incomes rise.