Theresa May cautious over tax on Yorkshire election campaign visit

Theresa May promised the Conservatives would form a low tax Government but stopped short of endorsing tax pledges made by a Cabinet colleague as she began the final weekend of the general election campaign in Yorkshire.
Theresa May is in Dewsbury todayTheresa May is in Dewsbury today
Theresa May is in Dewsbury today

The Prime Minister spoke at a rally in Thornhill this morning before visiting businesses at Pot House Hamlet, Silkstone.

At Thornhill Cricket Club, Mrs May was asked about her tax plans following Defence Secretary Michael Fallon’s insistence that high earners would not face income tax rises under a Conservative government.

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She said: “Our position on tax hasn’t changed. We have set it out in the manifesto.

“What people will know when they go to vote on Thursday is that it is the Conservative Party that always has been, is and always will be a low-tax party.

“It is our firm intention to reduce taxes for ordinary working families.”

The Conservative manifesto does not include the ‘tax-lock’ promised made by David Cameron in 2015 and only commits the party to not raising VAT.

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Asked if she would raise national insurance contributions, Mrs May said: “We are a party that believes in low taxes, it is our firm intention to reduce taxes on ordinary working families.

“When people come to vote they know they have a choice between a Conservative Party that always has been and always will be a party that believes in lower taxes and a Labour Party whose manifesto we know will cost ordinary working people.”

Thornhill is in the Labour-held Dewsbury seat the Conservatives lost in 2015 and are hoping to take back on Thursday.

Mrs May later travelled on the Conservative Party battlebus to Pot House Hamlet, Silkstone.

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She visited the Horsfields Nursery where she met the owners Tom and Claire Horsfield and Nicola Wilson the Conservative candidate for Penistone and Stocksbridge.

The group also enjoyed tea at Riley’s at The Potting Shed.