BATTLE FOR THE NORTH
Election: Chancellor Sajid Javid vows to splurge extra £20bn a year to invest in NHS, schools and transport
CHANCELLOR Sajid Javid has today vowed to turn on the spending taps to splurge an extra £20billion a year on the NHS, schools and transport.
As he and the shadow chancellor John McDonnell head up North to try and hoover up swing voters, the Chancellor ripped up Tory borrowing rules to he can spend more on what Brits want in future.
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After decades of tightening the purse and austerity, he today outlined his plans to invest responsibly in public services without a reckless spending spree which would see taxes rise for hard working households.
He's set out a new set of fiscal rules - meaning he will be able to borrow an extra £22billion a year for investing in Britain's future.
In a rousing speech in Manchester he promised: "Not just more jobs and higher wages, but more investment in our schools, in our NHS, in our environment, and in the rail, road and digital infrastructure that we all rely on."
Mr Javid promised again to raise the minimum wage to £10.50 an hour for Brits from 2024 which would end low pay across the country.
And he revealed a new Tory slogan too: "Unleashing Britain's Potential".
It comes as:
- Labour was dealt a triple blow as Tom Watson quit and ex-MPs Ian Austin and John Woodcock urged voters to back Boris instead
- Boris is on a whistle-stop of tour of the UK - with trips to the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
- Follow the action with our live blog
But he warned that Labour would "make the country sick and unhealthy again" by "spraying money round like confetti";.
He added: “Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are like the anti-vaxxers of economic policy.
“Not only did they reject the treatment needed to heal our economy and get the deficit down by four-fifths.
"They now want to take every step imaginable to make the country sick and unhealthy again.”
Mr Javid warmed that Labour would "ruin your finances, they will raise your taxes and they will saddle the next generation with debt."
"Every single Labour Government has left this country with an economic crisis," he said.
"Last time... it took 13 years for Labour to completely mess it up.
"This time it won’t even take them 13 months."
Yesterday a fresh poll showed voters prefer Mr Javid to Mr McDonnell by 45 per cent to 24 per cent.
Ipsos MORI's Evening Standard poll found just six in ten Labour voters said they would pick their Treasury spokesman in a choice between the two.
Saj rips up the Treasury rulebook
- Investment up to 3% of GDP - an extra £22billion a year
- Underlying debt not falling as a % of GDP every year, but vows to keep it going down
- Balance the budget in 'normal times'
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Meanwhile hard-left firebrand Mr McDonnell has today vowed to break up the Treasury and move some of it to the north if Labour seize power.
At a speech in Liverpool today, the shadow chancellor said the radical step would be part of Labour's sweeping plans to ram through an "irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth."
He vowed investment on "a scale never seen before" to overhaul transport across the country.
Both parties are locked in a battle for votes in the Midlands and North of England in swing seats that could decide who forms the next Government.
The party also revealed their election battle bus today, with the slogan: "it's time for real change".
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said both sides were promising the biggest amount of cash in infrastructure in 40 years.
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Boris Johnson urges voters to back him to get Brexit done and 'unleash a tidal wave of investment'
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