The embattled PM is facing growing talk of plots and potential challenges to his leadership
SIR Keir Starmer cannot lead Labour into the next election if he breaks his manifesto and raises income tax, members of his own government say.
The PM and his Chancellor Rachel Reeves are facing a growing backlash over plans to hike the levy by 2 pence.
Panicked Labour MPs fear the move will spark fury among voters who will seek their revenge by booting the party out of No10 at the next election.
One Labour frontbencher said: “Starmer can’t lead the party into the next election if he breaks the manifesto.
“He and Reeves are joined together in lockstep. I don’t think Rachel will have to resign immediately if she raises income tax.
“But I do fear we are stumbling into something which is bigger than breaking a manifesto commitment. It is pretty fundamental.“You don’t have to be a strategic mastermind to come up with the next election’s slogan – they said they wouldn’t put up income tax and they did.”
The embattled PM is facing growing plots against him by his disgruntled backbench MPs.
Westminster is thick with chatter he could face a leadership challenge – most likely after the local elections next May.
But some thing that if the Budget goes down really badly with the country, the knives could come out earlier.
Labour MP Clive Efford told Times Radio: “We can’t keep squeezing money out of people who are as poor as church mice.”
On chatter about an income tax rise, he added: “If that does happen, then we’ve got a hell of a job to do to explain to people why that was necessary.
“Personally, I hope that we will look elsewhere.
“If we look at household incomes since the banking crash in 2008, household incomes have flatlined, quality of life has gone down for average working people.”
The Chancellor is scrambling to try to find tens of billions of pounds to bankroll her spending plans in the Budget on November 26.
She is going to lift the 2 child benefit cap in a move which will cost around £3.5billion.
Ms Reeves is still deciding whether to lift it entirely or taper payments after the third child.
A government source said of the 2 child benefit plans : “It is a live discussion.”
