Government’s Manifesto Commitments

Neil Garratt AM moved, and Alessandro Georgiou AM seconded the following motion:

"This Assembly recalls the Government’s manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, VAT or National Insurance, as pledged in May 2024 and consistently since that time.

This Assembly recognises there are around 5.11 million income taxpayers, and an estimated 6 million National Insurance payers in London this year. This Assembly is particularly concerned about the potential impact to Londoners if this manifesto commitment was abandoned, given the negative funding reviews London is specifically facing and the anxiety many will feel around this speculation.

This Assembly also notes that the cost of living, rising inflation, and energy bills is cumulatively having a negative impact on Londoners right now, and is concerned that Londoners simply cannot afford to bear any additional costs.

This Assembly wishes to recognise that last year’s £40bn billion worth of tax hikes, particularly the increase in employer’s National Insurance, shed almost 45,000 payroll jobs in London. The Government abandoning its manifesto commitments and raising taxes again would have a disastrous effect on personal finances, inflation, jobs, business confidence and economic growth.

This Assembly also wishes to note the Chancellor’s comments in November 2024, when a promise was made that this was a “once in a generation Budget”, the Government would not be “coming back with more tax increases” and that “we now need to live within the means we have set ourselves”.

This Assembly strongly opposes the Government abandoning its manifesto commitments, and calls on the Mayor to lobby the Government to uphold its promises on tax over the course of the whole Parliament."

Following debate, and upon being put to a vote, this motion was agreed by 9 votes for and 7 votes against.