DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Voters deserve truth from Labour Party on tax plans

Has Wes Streeting inadvertently spilled the beans over Labour's hidden tax agenda?

The shadow health spokesman yesterday said his party's manifesto was not the 'sum total' of its revenue-raising plans and it did not cover 'five years of budgets'.

So, how long are Labour's manifesto pledges good for? Two years? A year? A month? Are they genuine pledges at all?

If Mr Streeting's words are to be believed, this 142-page document is little more than a charade – especially where promises on tax are concerned.

Almost every independent economic analyst believes Labour, if elected, will need to raise many billions in extra revenue to fund its 'agenda for change'.

Shadow health spokesman Will Streeting yesterday said his party's manifesto was not the 'sum total' of its revenue-raising plans and it did not cover 'five years of budgets'

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said headline rates of income tax, National Insurance, VAT, and corporation tax won't rise. But what other fiscal raids are being plotted behind closed doors?

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So, where's the money coming from?

The idea that a miraculous growth spurt will cover it has been widely dismissed as fantasy, especially given Labour's plans to saddle business with a raft of new rules and obligations and drive away wealthy foreigners by ending non-dom status.

The claim that imposing VAT on independent school fees would fund 6,500 new state teachers is equally implausible, with some experts saying the measure would actually cost money as thousands of private pupils are pushed on to the state.

In reality, Labour's huge funding gap can be plugged only by additional taxes and/or substantial extra borrowing at eye-watering rates of interest, adding to our towering national debt.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said headline rates of income tax, National Insurance, VAT, and corporation tax won't rise. But what other fiscal raids are being plotted behind closed doors?

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Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting says manifesto is 'just the start' of spending

Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner sent out mixed messages last week on the possibility of extending capital gains tax to the sale of family homes – something which would crash the property market at a stroke.

Labour HQ later stated categorically that primary residences would continue to be CGT exempt but widening this tax and hiking it from its current maximum of 24 per cent has clearly been under discussion.

Mr Streeting refused yesterday to rule out council tax hikes and it's also believed green excuses will be used to justify fleecing motorists (yet again).

Sir Keir tacitly admits the fuel duty freeze is not sacrosanct. Higher road taxes, charges on company vehicles and more congestion levies may be on the cards.

And what about a Gordon Brown-style attack on private pensions? A cut in higher rate tax relief on contributions is feared, hitting the young and middle-aged who are building up their nest-egg for retirement.

Could the 25 per cent tax-free lump sum be targeted? Will the right to pass on unused pension pots to one's children free of inheritance tax be scrapped?

Will inheritance tax itself be overhauled, with family homes thrown in with all other assets and taxed accordingly?

Will the headline inheritance tax rate be raised? Will the transferable allowance between spouses and partners end? Who knows?

That Sir Keir could win the keys to No 10 without revealing his tax-raising intentions would be an affront to democracy

With just 17 days of this dismal election campaign to go, opinion polls suggest the Tories are facing 'Starmergeddon' – a record defeat giving Labour a super-majority.

That Sir Keir could achieve this without revealing his tax-raising intentions would be an affront to democracy.

The public have a right to know exactly what to expect from a Labour government before going to the ballot box.

That its leader refuses to tell them should set alarm bells clanging. It suggests he has some very nasty surprises in store.