Sometimes, the best way to test your argument is to engage with a persistent critic.
One recent back-and-forth on X (formerly Twitter) with a vocal Labour government defender provided the perfect opportunity to explore the economic assumptions and ideological framing around Labour’s benefit cuts, tax policies, and political direction.
Here’s a breakdown of their talking points (so far) – and the facts that counter them.
This month, donations through Ko-fi helped keep Vox Political going — and I’ve posted a quick update there about what’s next.
I’m working on a new investigation, a reissued book collection (free to £20+ donors), and plenty of videos to ruffle a few feathers.
Take a look behind the scenes: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
And if you’ve already chipped in — thank you. You’re making this work possible.
Claim: Labour is still left-wing – look at the NI rise, CGT increase, and frozen tax thresholds.
Reality: These changes are minor, largely symbolic, and in some cases regressive.
- CGT increased from 20 per cent to 24 per cent: yes, it makes headlines, but it still leaves the UK with a capital gains tax rate far lower than income tax rates, preserving incentives for the wealthy to classify income as gains.
- Freezing thresholds: this is a stealth tax on workers, not the rich.
- NI hike on employers: often passed on to workers via suppressed wages and slower job growth.
Taken together, these are tweaks around the edges, not transformational redistributive reform.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Claim: The UK welfare budget is £326 billion – £5 billion cuts are a drop in the ocean.
Reality: The scale of the overall budget doesn’t justify cuts that hurt the most vulnerable.
Most of that £326 billion goes on pensions. The £5 billion in cuts target working-age disabled people and the unemployed – the groups least able to absorb them.
It’s not the size of the budget that matters, it’s where the axe falls.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Claim: 35 per cent of people are on benefits. That’s not sustainable.
Reality: This statistic lumps in everyone from pensioners to part-time workers receiving tax credits.
The welfare state exists to support people in hardship, not punish them for existing.
The question isn’t how many claim benefits, but whether society is structured to reduce the need for them.
Claim: Employer NI isn’t paid by workers.
Reality: Basic economic theory (yes, Economics 101) shows that employer-side payroll taxes often reduce take-home pay or employment growth.
Businesses factor total labour costs into hiring decisions.
Raising corporation tax instead would target profits, not jobs.
But Labour chose the latter.
Claim: You want a communist state!
Reality: Wanting progressive taxation and fair redistribution isn’t communism.
It’s centre-left economics, common across developed democracies.
What we’re seeing from Labour is centre-right triangulation: austerity with a (stab at a) friendlier face.
This month, donations through Ko-fi helped keep Vox Political going — and I’ve posted a quick update there about what’s next.
I’m working on a new investigation, a reissued book collection (free to £20+ donors), and plenty of videos to ruffle a few feathers.
Take a look behind the scenes: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
And if you’ve already chipped in — thank you. You’re making this work possible.
So where is Labour now?
Despite claims to the contrary, Labour has moved rightwards:
- Welfare cuts aimed at disabled people and low-income pensioners.
- Tax changes that fall more heavily on workers than on capital.
- No wealth tax, no meaningful corporate tax reform.
- Internal purges of left-wing dissent.
This is not the party of 2017.
It isn’t even the party of 2020.
It’s a party obsessed with investor confidence and headlines in the Times, not transformational change.
When even symbolic gestures are spun as evidence of a left-wing agenda, it shows how far the centre has shifted.
Calling out these distortions isn’t trolling – it’s essential.
If we don’t challenge these myths, they become accepted as the facts.
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:
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Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
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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:
Unpacking the myths: Labour’s shift right and the welfare cuts debate
Sometimes, the best way to test your argument is to engage with a persistent critic.
One recent back-and-forth on X (formerly Twitter) with a vocal Labour government defender provided the perfect opportunity to explore the economic assumptions and ideological framing around Labour’s benefit cuts, tax policies, and political direction.
Here’s a breakdown of their talking points (so far) – and the facts that counter them.
This month, donations through Ko-fi helped keep Vox Political going — and I’ve posted a quick update there about what’s next.
I’m working on a new investigation, a reissued book collection (free to £20+ donors), and plenty of videos to ruffle a few feathers.
Take a look behind the scenes: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
And if you’ve already chipped in — thank you. You’re making this work possible.
Claim: Labour is still left-wing – look at the NI rise, CGT increase, and frozen tax thresholds.
Reality: These changes are minor, largely symbolic, and in some cases regressive.
Taken together, these are tweaks around the edges, not transformational redistributive reform.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Claim: The UK welfare budget is £326 billion – £5 billion cuts are a drop in the ocean.
Reality: The scale of the overall budget doesn’t justify cuts that hurt the most vulnerable.
Most of that £326 billion goes on pensions. The £5 billion in cuts target working-age disabled people and the unemployed – the groups least able to absorb them.
It’s not the size of the budget that matters, it’s where the axe falls.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Claim: 35 per cent of people are on benefits. That’s not sustainable.
Reality: This statistic lumps in everyone from pensioners to part-time workers receiving tax credits.
The welfare state exists to support people in hardship, not punish them for existing.
The question isn’t how many claim benefits, but whether society is structured to reduce the need for them.
Claim: Employer NI isn’t paid by workers.
Reality: Basic economic theory (yes, Economics 101) shows that employer-side payroll taxes often reduce take-home pay or employment growth.
Businesses factor total labour costs into hiring decisions.
Raising corporation tax instead would target profits, not jobs.
But Labour chose the latter.
Claim: You want a communist state!
Reality: Wanting progressive taxation and fair redistribution isn’t communism.
It’s centre-left economics, common across developed democracies.
What we’re seeing from Labour is centre-right triangulation: austerity with a (stab at a) friendlier face.
This month, donations through Ko-fi helped keep Vox Political going — and I’ve posted a quick update there about what’s next.
I’m working on a new investigation, a reissued book collection (free to £20+ donors), and plenty of videos to ruffle a few feathers.
Take a look behind the scenes: https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
And if you’ve already chipped in — thank you. You’re making this work possible.
So where is Labour now?
Despite claims to the contrary, Labour has moved rightwards:
This is not the party of 2017.
It isn’t even the party of 2020.
It’s a party obsessed with investor confidence and headlines in the Times, not transformational change.
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’ (bottom right of the home page). 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) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
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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