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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged his Conservatives won’t raise income tax, value-added tax or national insurance rates as he prepared to unveil the party’s program for government on Sunday.
The eye-catching pledge designed to appeal to all voters will be included in the party’s manifesto, set for official launch on Sunday afternoon. His Labour opponent Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, promised to compensate some 3.7 million women whose pensions will be affected by changes to the retirement age brought in by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition of the early 2010s.
Key Developments:
Tories to unveil manifesto, including pledge not to raise several key taxes; the party is set to win 48-seat majority, new study suggestsLabour promise compensation for women affected by changes to retirement age
Labour Plan Sends Power Firms Offshore: Paper (9:20 a.m.)
Two of Britain’s biggest power providers have created overseas holding companies to protect their shareholders from a cut-price nationalization if Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party wins power, the Sunday Times reported.
SSE Plc has put its U.K. business into a new holding company in Switzerland, while National Grid Plc has shifted its gas and electricity activities into new subsidiaries in Luxembourg and Hong Kong, the newspaper said, citing the companies. Those countries have bilateral treaties with the U.K. that ensure a government must pay shareholders a fair price if it wants to buy them out.
Javid Promises to Cost Tory Manifesto (9 a.m.)
Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid said he’ll publish “a very detailed costings document” for the Conservative Party’s manifesto at the same time as the program for government is published later on Sunday.
“It will take every additional cost that’s in our manifesto, every single thing that is tax or anything else, and we will set out exactly how we’re going to fund it in the lifetime of the Parliament,” Javid told Sky News. “It will in fact be the most detailed, most transparent costings that have ever been published in British electoral history.”
That’s a change from the 2017 general election, when Labour published costings of its manifesto, but the Tories didn’t. Labour published a costings document again earlier this week, at the same time as releasing its manifesto.
Javid also promised that a Conservative government will ensure debt will be lower at end of the next parliament than now.
McDonnell Won’t Be Neutral in New Referendum (8:30 a.m.)
Labour’s Finance spokesman, John McDonnell, said individual members of a Labour government “will be able to campaign on the basis of their judgment” if there’s a second referendum on European Union membership that pitches a Labour-brokered deal against remaining in the bloc.
McDonnell said he won’t be neutral in a second referendum, telling Sky News in an interview that he’d wait to see the basis of the deal before deciding which way to campaign. He’s previously said he would campaign for Remain. His comments come after leader Jeremy Corbyn said Friday he would be neutral in any second referendum, and pledged to implement the result.
Tories Enjoy Double-Digit Poll Lead (Earlier)
Boris Johnson’s Conservatives enjoy a double-digit lead over the main opposition Labour Party in at least five different polls released on Saturday. Deltapoll, BMG Research and Opinium give the Tories a 13-point lead, YouGov gave them a 12-point lead, and Savanta ComRes put them 10 points ahead.
Separately, analysis of YouGov polls by Datapraxis suggests the Conservative Party will win a 48-seat majority in the general election.
Labour Pledge Compensation for Older Women (Earlier)
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party pledged to compensate women whose pensions are affected by changes to the retirement age made by the 2010-2015 Conservative-led coalition government. The women will receive payouts of as much as 31,000 pounds ($40,000), with an average payment of 15,000 pounds, the party said in an emailed statement.
According to Labour, about 3.7 million women were affected by the changes when David Cameron’s government raised the women’s state pension age, to 65 in 2018 and 66 in 2020. The announcement comes after Boris Johnson was challenged Friday by an audience member in the BBC’s Question Time show to say what he would do to help women affected by the changes. He made no promises, saying he knew that it would be expensive.
Tories Promise No Tax Hikes in Manifesto (Earlier)
Boris Johnson’s Conservatives will promise not to raise raise several key tax rates when it unveils its manifesto on Sunday, the ruling party said in a statement. The headline pitch is a promise not to raise the rates of income tax, national insurance or value-added tax during the next Tory government.
The manifesto also includes plans for record spending on infrastructure, science and training the workforce, as well as more money for childcare and a promise not to export plastic waste to non-OECD countries.
“Our positive, One Nation agenda will unite this great country not just for Christmas but for years to come,” Johnson said. “We are offering hope and optimism where the Labour Party only offer hate and division.”
Earlier:
Johnson’s Conservatives Pledge to Lock U.K. Income Tax RatesU.K. Conservatives Would Win 48-Seat Majority, Datapraxis SaysCorbyn Says He’d Stay Neutral in Second U.K. Brexit ReferendumTories Lead Labour as Brexit Party Loses Ground, Polls Show (2)
–With assistance from James Ludden and Kitty Donaldson.
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Morales in London at [email protected];Brian Swint in London at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at [email protected], Stuart Biggs
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