Britain | Bagehot

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

The question that hangs over Sir Keir Starmer’s fiscal policy

Illustration of a rose bent into the shape of a question mark
Image: Nate Kitch

Welcome to the 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.”

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Tories, naifs or liars? ”

From the October 7th 2023 edition

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