Tory members want Boris Johnson to press ahead with £9bn tax cut for rich, survey suggests – live news

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen 12.51pm GMT Since the general election Boris Johnson has been claiming that the Conservatives are now a “totally different party” because of the success he had at winning over working-class voters and voters in the north (not always the same people, of course). There is some evidence to back up what he is saying; the party is now more popular with working-class voters than it is with middle-class voters. But the character of a party is not just determined by who votes for it. What is even more important is who its MPs are, and who its members are, and a ConservativeHome survey of party members today suggests that the membership has yet to embrace Johnson’s new-found proletarianism. During the Conservative leadership contest Johnson proposed raising the threshold for the higher rate of income tax from £50,000 to £80,000. This would do nothing for those on low or average earnings, and most of the benefit would go to the richest 10% of households, who would each gain about £2,500 a year. According to an Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis (pdf), this would also cost £9bn. 12.18pm GMT The Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire, one of the most high-profile Labour-supporting commentators in the media, thinks Jeremy Corbyn sounded “clueless” in his New Year’s message.Understated “quite the year” would work had Labour won the election but it sounds clueless from a leader in denial after a hammer blow fourth defeat. Battered Corbyn should step back completely. Immediately. https://t.co/dMOgChB1UIAny self respecting “resistance” doesn’t go into a General Election, voluntarily, on Boris Johnson’s terms.You inept, Tory enabling, trot, idiot. https://t.co/rfmGNyXZKt Continue reading…
Via: Tory members want Boris Johnson to press ahead with £9bn tax cut for rich, survey suggests – live news