Is Britain’s Labour Party a bunch of Tories, naifs or liars?

Welcome tothe vatVAT Great British Politics Quiz. Round one: match the politician to the quote. Politician a) Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor; b) Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor; c) Liz Truss, a former Tory prime minister; and d) Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader. Quote 1: “I want lower taxation. We’re not looking to the lever of taxation, we’re looking to the lever of growth.” Quote 2: “After a once-in-a-century pandemic and the biggest energy crisis in a generation, the level of tax is too high.” Quote 3: “I don’t see the way to prosperity as being through taxation.” Quote 4: “[The] unprecedentedly high tax burden is one of the reasons our economy is stagnating and why we need to cut taxes to help make Britain grow again.”Do not worry if you did not score well (a=3, b=2 c=4, d=1). When it comes to tax, it is hard to tell Britain’s two main parties apart. Consensus rules British fiscal policy. Each party laments a tax burden that is near a post-war high. Each longs for tax cuts. Labour has ruled out any increase in income tax, national insurance or , which account for the bulk of government revenue. Ms Reeves has rejected the idea of new wealth taxes. Her planned revenue-raising measures are piddling. Labour’s pledge to put on private schools would raise £1.6bn ($1.9bn)—a rounding error in a £1trn government budget. Likewise, if the Conservatives do unveil income-tax cuts before the election, Labour will be tempted to match them.