Why is Keir Starmer harming his election chances with pension lies?
In Prime Minister’s Questions today (Wednesday, May 1, 2024), he claimed Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to abolish National Insurance (NI) would leave a £46 billion “black hole” in the government’s finances.
The BBC points out:
While £46bn is approximately what it would cost to abolish NI today, the government has not given a timeframe describing it as a “long-term ambition”.
Starmer also linked abolishing it to the state pension, because pensioners are more likely to vote than any other part of the population and he wants to scare them into voting Labour in tomorrow’s (May 2) elections – even though they are local elections and pensions are decided at the national level.
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He said if £46 billion were cut from its funding, the value of the state pension would almost halve – but this is not true; the independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £138 billion will be spent on the state pension this year. A bit of quick maths reveals that £46 billion is only slightly more than one-third of that total.
So: why is Keir Starmer harming his election chances with pension lies?
Does he think the UK’s pensioners are so addled after 14 years of Tory misrule and gaslighting that they can’t tell a lie from a fact any more?
If he’s trying to tell them that the only choices available are Labour or Tory, and the Tories are going to cut pensions, then they’ll be wise to remember that he lied about the proportion of pensions that could be cut and the timeframe over which that may happen.
Pensioners may well decide that if the alternative to a certain pensions cut is a party headed by a liar, they’ll be better-off looking for someone else.
This Site would recommend a decent left-wing Independent candidate – or the Green Party.
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Why is Keir Starmer harming his election chances with pension lies?
Why is Keir Starmer harming his election chances with pension lies?
In Prime Minister’s Questions today (Wednesday, May 1, 2024), he claimed Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to abolish National Insurance (NI) would leave a £46 billion “black hole” in the government’s finances.
The BBC points out:
Starmer also linked abolishing it to the state pension, because pensioners are more likely to vote than any other part of the population and he wants to scare them into voting Labour in tomorrow’s (May 2) elections – even though they are local elections and pensions are decided at the national level.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
He said if £46 billion were cut from its funding, the value of the state pension would almost halve – but this is not true; the independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that £138 billion will be spent on the state pension this year. A bit of quick maths reveals that £46 billion is only slightly more than one-third of that total.
So: why is Keir Starmer harming his election chances with pension lies?
Does he think the UK’s pensioners are so addled after 14 years of Tory misrule and gaslighting that they can’t tell a lie from a fact any more?
If he’s trying to tell them that the only choices available are Labour or Tory, and the Tories are going to cut pensions, then they’ll be wise to remember that he lied about the proportion of pensions that could be cut and the timeframe over which that may happen.
Pensioners may well decide that if the alternative to a certain pensions cut is a party headed by a liar, they’ll be better-off looking for someone else.
This Site would recommend a decent left-wing Independent candidate – or the Green Party.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the right margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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