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Labour: £60,000 earners 'not rich' and not tax target Labour: Miliband outlines 'cost of living crisis' plans
(about 3 hours later)
People earning £60,000 are not "rich" and would not be taxed more under Labour, a senior party figure has said. Labour leader Ed Miliband has set out plans to tackle what he calls the UK's "cost of living crisis" after arriving in Brighton for the party conference.
Rachel Reeves said a Labour government would only raise taxes for the "privileged few" on £150,000 or more a year, according to the Daily Telegraph. Speaking in the city, he promised to reverse controversial changes to housing benefit and extend childcare.
Meanwhile shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said Labour would guarantee all parents of primary school children "wraparound" childcare from 8am to 6pm. He also pledged to "make work pay for the workers of Britain".
The Labour plans have emerged ahead of the party conference in Brighton. Meanwhile a senior party figure has said people earning £60,000 were 'not rich' and those earning up to £150,000 would not face tax rises under Labour.
Leader Ed Miliband is due to outline how the party would reverse controversial changes to housing benefit - which critics have called a "bedroom tax" - if Labour won the 2015 election. Addressing supporters and members of the public in a Brighton street, Mr Miliband said he wanted to "send a very clear signal" that it was wrong that millions of working people in the UK could not afford to bring up their families properly.
Shadow communities and local government secretary Hilary Benn told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was a "cruel and unfair policy" which "undermined families and communities" and did not work because there were no smaller properties for people to move in to. He said the housing benefit cut - affecting social tenants in England, Scotland and Wales deemed to have spare bedrooms - would be scrapped. Critics have called the cut a "bedroom tax".
The government argues it ends "spare room subsidies" unavailable in the private sector, and that the £23bn-a-year housing benefit bill must be cut. "Abolishing the bedroom tax. Strengthening the national minimum wage. Childcare there for parents who need it. That's what I mean by tackling the cost of living crisis at this conference. That's what I mean by a government that fights for you," he said.
The BBC's political correspondent Ben Wright said it was "one of the first policies of what is going to be a pretty crucial conference" for Mr Miliband. The Labour leader said the national minimum wage was "one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour government" but it was falling behind under the coalition government and pledged to strengthen it.
He said there was a "slightly glum mood" within Labour at the moment, with critics within the party saying it urgently needs clear policies and to be doing better in the polls to have any chance of winning the next election. If the national minimum wage had risen in line with the cost of living it would be 45p an hour higher than the current level, which is due to rise next month from £6.19 to £6.31, he said.
On taxation, Miss Reeves, deputy to shadow chancellor Ed Balls, told the Telegraph: "I think the focus should be on those privileged few right at the top, and that's not people earning £50,000 or £60,000 a year. Mr Miliband criticised Mr Cameron's record as one of "tax cuts for millionaires, tax cuts for hedge funds, tobacco lobbyists in Downing Street".
"We don't have any plans or desire to increase taxes amongst people in that band of income." He said "across the country, from all walks of life, people are facing this cost of living crisis" and there was always something that could be done "if you have the political will".
It was the "forgotten wealth creators - the people who put in the hours, who do the work, who do two jobs, who do the shifts" that should be supported, he said.
"That's how we change Britain, that's what a Labour government is going to do, that's how we build One Nation," he added.
The speech came after Rachel Reeves, deputy to shadow chancellor Ed Balls, told the Daily Telegraph people earning £60,000 were not "rich" and a Labour government would only raise taxes for the "privileged few" on £150,000 or more a year.
"I think the focus should be on those privileged few right at the top, and that's not people earning £50,000 or £60,000 a year.
"We don't have any plans or desire to increase taxes amongst people in that band of income," she said.
A Liberal Democrat document leaked earlier this week suggested the party was considering increasing taxes for people earning more than £50,000.A Liberal Democrat document leaked earlier this week suggested the party was considering increasing taxes for people earning more than £50,000.
Senior Lib Dem Vince Cable said the proposal was not government policy and he did not know where it had come from.Senior Lib Dem Vince Cable said the proposal was not government policy and he did not know where it had come from.
The average annual earnings of full-time workers in the UK was £26,500 in the year to April 2012, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics in its annual survey of hours and earnings last November.The average annual earnings of full-time workers in the UK was £26,500 in the year to April 2012, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics in its annual survey of hours and earnings last November.
Help for parents Earlier on Saturday, shadow communities and local government secretary Hilary Benn told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme the housing benefit was a "cruel and unfair policy" which "undermined families and communities" and did not work because there were no smaller properties for people to move in to.
The government argues it ends "spare room subsidies" unavailable in the private sector, and that the £23bn-a-year housing benefit bill must be cut.
The BBC's political correspondent Ben Wright said it was "one of the first policies of what is going to be a pretty crucial conference" for Mr Miliband.
He said there was a "slightly glum mood" within Labour at the moment, with critics within the party saying it urgently needs clear policies and to be doing better in the polls to have any chance of winning the next election.
Meanwhile, Ms Cooper told the Guardian childcare would be a "top priority" for Labour's 2015 general election and it should be seen as just as important as infrastructure investments such as transport.Meanwhile, Ms Cooper told the Guardian childcare would be a "top priority" for Labour's 2015 general election and it should be seen as just as important as infrastructure investments such as transport.
"It's about supporting families, the economy and equality. It's a really important issue for us and we want to go further than we have before," she said. She said Labour would guarantee all parents of primary school children "wraparound" childcare from 8am to 6pm.
At present some schools offer breakfast clubs and after-school clubs to help working parents, but Labour says many of these have closed due to government cuts.At present some schools offer breakfast clubs and after-school clubs to help working parents, but Labour says many of these have closed due to government cuts.
Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman told the Independent she is "determined" mothers and fathers should be entitled to transfer part of their flexible parental leave to grandparents, enabling them to return to work.Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman told the Independent she is "determined" mothers and fathers should be entitled to transfer part of their flexible parental leave to grandparents, enabling them to return to work.
She said it would stop grandparents facing the dilemma of quitting work to temporarily care for the newborns and later struggling to find a job.
The Guardian said other policy pledges expected to be set out by Mr Miliband included strengthening the minimum wage in specific sectors such as retail and catering and taking fresh action to crack down on energy bills.
A commitment to a new programme on social housing is also expected to be announced.
Ms Cooper told the paper Mr Miliband would set out the plans - to be paid for with central government money - at the conference, which starts on Sunday.
Responding to Labour's plans in the Guardian, Treasury minister Sajid Javid said: "Despite promising 'discipline' on borrowing, Ed Miliband has shown he is too weak to deliver. Nothing has changed - it's the same old Labour."Responding to Labour's plans in the Guardian, Treasury minister Sajid Javid said: "Despite promising 'discipline' on borrowing, Ed Miliband has shown he is too weak to deliver. Nothing has changed - it's the same old Labour."