LABOUR will be more responsible on spending than the Tories when in government, Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle has predicted.
Mr Kyle also told GB News: “There is a big weight and a burden on the Labour Party now because we are the party that represents the majority view of the public.”
Asked if Labour would fight an election promising tax rises, told GB News’ Tom Harwood “No, actually, what you’ve seen is the Labour Party taxing fairly and planning to spend wisely. That’s the framework through which we apply all of our spending commitments, and our investment commitments and our tax-raising plans.
“The one difference between the Labour Party and the Tory Party right now is that we had the biggest spending splurge in peacetime history last week, yet not a single measure really significantly on revenue generation.
“Now, what the Labour Party has been very clear on is where the money is going to come from, not just borrowing with our cost of living package in the summer, which is a big spending commitment. There was borrowing involved, but there was also revenue generation through a windfall tax.
He added: “We’re being responsible and that’s the framework that you’ll see with Keir’s speech, and you certainly saw with Rachel [Reeves] yesterday who talked about fiscal discipline.
Speakingat Labour’s conference in Liverpool, he added: “The centre ground is back. Our political system works because usually you have two parties in the majority view of where the public wants the parties to be and they’re battling out for where the majority of the public are.
“But right now, the Tory party, because of its budget last week and a few other issues, has leapt off the centre ground.
“So there is a big weight and a burden on the Labour Party now because we are the party that represents the majority view of the public.
“Tony Blair was the last Labour leader that won that kind of argument with the public to connect ourselves to it in the same way that Blair connected himself to Wilson and Altlee, the other two winning leaders of the Labour Party.
“We are plonking ourselves absolutely front and centre in the winning traditions of the Labour Party, the Labour Party at its best.”
He said: “We’re in a different era now, I mean, a lot has changed.
“We’ve had a series of crises, some of them caused by national and international situations, others caused by mismanagement of our economy and our society by the governing party that’s been in for 12 years.
“We have to now think about the taxation levels, but also the investment in public services to build resilience and also our infrastructure. Infrastructure was never a massive issue in some previous generations, but now it absolutely is, and the lack of investment in it.
“These are the issues that we’re going have to tackle and you will see Keir Starmer setting out a framework for how we will govern to tackle the big issues of the day.”
