Although the five-year term of the current makeup of the British House of Commons expires only in December next year, the country’s largest opposition force, the Labor Party, says elections will be held as early as May.
This was stated by Emily Thornberry, shadow attorney general of the Labor Party, according to whom the holding of the elections in May is “the worst kept secret in Westminster”, reports the Guardian.
Thornberry referred to the ruling conservatives’ decision to release the state budget on March 6 next year. In the UK, the national budget is published twice a year and announcing the spring budget in early March would be unusually early.
The British government is set to announce a series of tax cuts in the spring budget. The government has already reduced the social tax by two percentage points in the autumn state budget.
Some Conservative MPs want the government to reduce or even abolish inheritance tax. Others say it would make more sense to reduce the income tax rate.
However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman refused to reveal what specific tax cuts the Government is considering. He also mentioned that there is no plan to abolish inheritance tax.
“When it comes to inheritance tax, most heirs don’t pay it and it is predicted to bring almost £10 billion to the Exchequer in 2028 and 2029, helping to fund the public services that millions of us depend on,” he said. stated.
However, observers believe that some taxes will certainly be lowered in the spring.
According to the Labor Party, Sunak wants to announce the election at the same time as the tax cuts. Labor leader Keir Starmer has already ordered the party’s election manifesto to be drawn up by February 8 to be ready for the election.
At the same time, influential conservatives claim that this is just a rumor spread by the Labor Party, which is not true. According to one MP, the party would have already started campaigning if the prime minister had wanted to call elections in May.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith told the Telegraph he thought it would make more sense to hold an election only after people felt the impact of tax cuts on their wallets.
“I would not hold elections in May. We would like people to feel that things have changed. It would be better to hold elections after the end of summer, when people return from holidays and feel better,” the politician said.
The centre-left Labor Party is currently leading the polls with a significant advantage over the ruling Conservatives. According to the average of Politico polls, Labor has the support of 43% of voters, while the Conservatives remain in second place with 25%.
In the 2019 general election, the Conservatives won 43.6% of the vote and Labor 32.1%.
2023-12-29 05:56:00
leading-labor-mp-uk-elections-will-be-held-in-may-foreign-country