Heather Stewart 

Jeremy Corbyn set to promise crackdown on tax dodgers

Labour leader is expected to use speech to accuse tax dodgers of being unpatriotic and promise an economic renaissance for UK
  
  

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn makes a speech
Jeremy Corbyn will say the government is trying to oppose democratic scrutiny over Brexit because it does not have a plan. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA

Jeremy Corbyn will use a speech on Saturday to accuse tax dodgers of being unpatriotic and pledge that a future Labour government would bring about an economic renaissance.

Speaking at a conference in London, the Labour leader is expected to promise a renewed crackdown on those who fail to pay their fair share of the cost of Britain’s public finances.

“There is nothing more unpatriotic than not paying your taxes: it is an act of vandalism against those waiting for an operation, against the elderly suffering inadequate social care, against young people in oversized classes,” he will say.

“This is a message to the tax dodgers: a Labour government will come for you – no more turning a blind eye, no more shabby deals.”

He will call on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to use the autumn statement later this month to increase public investment in order to offset the impact of Brexit on the economy, saying: “After six wasted years of Tory austerity and savage cuts, the autumn statement will be the test of whether they can back up their new rhetoric with meaningful change.”

Corbyn made a series of lavish spending pledges during his summer leadership campaign, including £500bn of investment over 10 years.

“A country that doesn’t invest is a country that has given up, that has taken the path of managed decline. A Labour government will manage a renaissance in investment, in infrastructure and in industry,” he will say.

Corbyn will also use the speech to address Brexit, telling the audience that the government is trying to oppose democratic scrutiny because it has no plan.

Turning to the letter from the business secretary, Greg Clark, to Nissan to persuade the Japanese carmaker to keep investing in the UK, the Labour leader will say: “We can’t have secret deals on Brexit, company by company. All our businesses need the kind of assurances that Nissan has had about the shape of the government’s Brexit plans to make the right investment decisions.”

Corbyn used his appearance at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday to press Theresa May over a series of planned cuts to benefits and urge her to watch the Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake, to understand the lives of the “just managing” families she has said she wants to champion.

The government is facing a rebellion from Conservative backbenchers, including the former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, over £3bn of cuts to the universal credit budget, which are due to be implemented by the end of this parliament.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*