For his first back-to-school conference on Tuesday, August 27, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke from the “Rose Garden”, a green haven usually reserved for the tenant, family and staff of 10 Downing Street, hidden from view and located at the back of the famous British address. A calculated choice for the Labour leader who wanted “to render service” from the public this place which was at the heart of “partygate” and hosted the most notable parties held by Boris Johnson and his close associates during the lockdown. “The rose garden had become a symbol of what was rotten in the government. [Johnson] “, said Mr Starmer, who since bringing Labour to power in July has vowed to end politics “performative” conservatives, in charge for fourteen years.
But beyond the symbols and the repeated attacks on the Tories, accused of having left the finances of the United Kingdom in a lamentable state (with spending “unexpected” and unfunded £22bn (€26bn) in the 2024 budget), Mr Starmer has given Britons little cause for hope. After a summer rocked by racist riots, he announced “difficult decisions” and a draft budget ” painful “ for the fall, preparing minds for budget cuts and tax increases that he says are necessary to “rebuild the foundations of the country.”
Her Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, gave a taste of the efforts to come, announcing in August the planned end for pensioners from the Fuel Allowancean allowance paid to low earners to help pay their energy bills. This choice has sparked a salvo of criticism from the Conservatives but has also made Labour MPs grind their teeth. Alan Johnson, Gordon Brown's former Home Secretary, invited Rachel Reeves on the BBC to “limit changes” regarding energy allocation.
Mr Starmer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who have promised to preserve “taxpayers' money and citizens' standard of living ” have largely tied their hands by committing in the Labour manifesto to reducing the country's public debt without increasing income tax, VAT or National Insurance (an additional income tax), which are nevertheless the three main tax levers at the disposal of the British Treasury. To finance the considerable investments needed in the country's public services (notably health), Labour has promised the introduction of VAT on tuition fees in private schools and the end of the so-called tax loophole “no dom”, allowing people resident in the country but domiciled abroad to only be taxed on their income earned in the UK.
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Source: Lemonde
