Labour targets ‘grey wall’ in election campaign
LABOUR is launching a new push to go after the “grey wall” of pensioners after a backlash over the budget.
Party activists are trying to woo the elderly who they believe are key to winning the General Election.
One senior shadow minister told The Sun on Sunday: “You have heard of the Red wall and the Blue Wall – but we are going after the grey wall.
“Pensioners will be fed up after that Budget. They are the only voter group we are behind with. But we are going to try to woo them.”
Pensioners were singled out as the biggest losers in Jeremy Hunt’s Budget this week with experts calculating they will lose an average of £1,000 each.
And fresh Labour Party analysis claims the Tories’ plan to scrap National Insurance in the future could cost pensioners another grand if it means income tax going up.
Darren Jones MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “Since the Chancellor delivered his Budget we have had days of confusion, with ministers refusing to say how they will pay for their plan or whose taxes will have to go up.
“Pensioners cannot afford the risk of five more years of Conservative economic chaos. Rishi Sunak needs to show some strength and call an election.”
Government sources hit back saying they had no plans to increase income tax.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “Our plan is to lower taxes, not increase them. The commitment to end the unfairness of taxing work twice is a long-term ambition that will only be achieved when it’s fiscally sensible.
“We have already cut employee NICs by third in a matter of months without increasing borrowing or cutting spending, and that is the model we want to follow when we go further.
“We continue support pensioners with the triple lock, which saw the state pension rise by nearly £900 a year since 2022.”