Are Tories manufacturing a struggle within their ranks to make themselves look less mean?

Last Updated: July 30, 2017By

Robert Halfon says fuel duty rise would hit small businesses, bus fares and food prices [Image: Hannah Mckay/EPA].

No doubt many people will see Robert Halfon as a champion of working people, after he spoke out against tax rises.

Isn’t it more likely that he is simply trying to make the Conservatives look more acceptable?

Expect arguments to be aired, making it seem there is no alternative (remember TINA?) to taxing the poor and the middle classes, while giving the rich everything they could possibly want.

The real solution was put forward by Jeremy Corbyn in the run-up to the general election, of course: Increase taxes for the top five per cent of earners.

A Tory MP and former minister who has been a cheerleader for so-called “blue-collar Conservatism” has warned against any tax rises that would hit working families.

Robert Halfon spoke out after it emerged that the chancellor, Philip Hammond, was considering additional levies on fuel, homes and pension relief as a way of plugging the hole in public finances.

Responding in particular to the suggestion that Hammond could end a long-term freeze on fuel duty increases, the Harlow MP said: “This war on motorists has got to stop.”

Halfon, who has been credited as a key campaigner on fair fuel prices, argued that the Conservative party ought to be reducing the burden on drivers not increasing it.

Source: Tory MP and former minister speaks out against tax increases | Politics | The Guardian


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2 Comments

  1. dsbacon2017 July 31, 2017 at 9:00 am - Reply

    I’m not sure that the tories are clever enough for this. To be fair, there have always been a few- i.e. not many who have had some sympathy for the working class. I think the chaos in the tory party stems from their competitivness and their meanness.

    Jonson, Gove and Davies will be eyeing the situation with increasing interest. Whilst the Maybot’s away, the rats will play.

    • Mike Sivier July 31, 2017 at 10:02 am - Reply

      It’s a classic Tory tactic.

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