General Election 2019: Tories tax cut promises labelled ‘pure fantasy’

Boris Johnson said a majority Conservative government would give a tax cut to millions of Brits after the election.

The announcement comes as the campaign enters its final week, with many polls showing the Tories’ lead over Labour shrinking.

But the Lib Dems called the tax cut promises “pure fantasy”, and Labour said the Conservatives could only deliver “more of the same failure”.

What did Johnson announce?

Alongside tax cuts that were not mentioned in the Conservative manifesto, Johnson promised to achieve several pledges in the first 100 days after the election:

Leave the EUBoost spending on the NHSEnd automatic early release for violent offendersStart cross-party discussions on social care fundingStart recruiting 20,000 new police officers and 50,000 nurses

How would the tax cut work?

Johnson claims that a rise in the national insurance threshold would create a £2.5bn tax cut for Brits.

He said he plans to increase the threshold to £9,500, before setting out a plan next year for it to be raised to £12,500.

But Labour’s shadow communities secretary Andrew Gwynne said the government’s record on working people was one of failure.

"In those days we've seen child poverty soar, rising homelessness, rising food bank use, and violent crime is up too while the NHS has more people waiting for operations, and record staff vacancies.

"As the Conservatives approach 3,500 days of failure, it's clear that more of the same failed austerity, privatisation and tax giveaways for the few is not the answer."