Will Labour and the Tories be heading into the next election ‘following the same tram lines on spending?’ That was the question the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg put to Rachel Reeves this morning, as the shadow chancellor insisted once again that the Labour party is committed to fiscal discipline, promising to ‘not play fast and loose with the public finances’.
Labour may not need to show a radical difference in spending priorities if they can stand out in other areas
Reeves tried to suggest the differences in tax-and-spend policy would still be significant, citing Labour’s proposed changes to non-domiciled tax status in the UK. But if this is really going to be the dividing line between the two parties going into a general election, then there is very little difference at all. As Kuenssberg pointed out, the non-dom figures Labour cites – increasing revenue by around £3.2 billion, the party says – is a drop in the ocean of overall tax revenue.
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