Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health Secretary, has clarified that Labour's manifesto does not encompass the entirety of their future spending plans. Speaking on Sky News with Trevor Phillips, Streeting emphasized that the manifesto should not be viewed as the final word on future budgets and spending reviews. He reiterated that any additional spending, particularly on the NHS, would depend on future conditions and that Labour would not make promises they couldn't keep. Streeting also addressed concerns from Laura Kuenssberg about funding for social care, expressing his ambition to go further in the future. He did not rule out potential council tax rises or re-evaluations, but maintained that there would be no increases in income tax, National Insurance Contributions, or VAT. Streeting's comments highlight Labour's approach to fiscal policy, aiming to balance ambition with realistic commitments, and described the manifesto as a fully costed set of promises.
"A manifesto is not a spending review... in our case [it's] a fully costed... set of promises we can keep" Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting says Labour's manifesto doesn't necessarily represent all of the party’s potential spending plans #BBCLauraK https://t.co/pfJ2QnjgbL https://t.co/fMgIHCLcEp
🔴 Labour’s manifesto is not the “sum total” of its spending plans, Wes Streeting has admitted Streeting said the document does not cover all of his party’s plans to pump billions more into public services like the NHS Follow the latest 👇 https://t.co/PlGQGJq54R https://t.co/XPYwvdOM56
Wes Streeting fails to rule out council tax rises/re-evaluations. Once again repeats line about no income tax/NICs/VAT hikes. Says nothing in manifesto requires tax rises, but doesn't offer the same cast-iron pledge to @bbclaurak
.@TrevorPTweets: 'Are you saying there could be greater increases in NHS spending than in your manifesto?' @wesstreeting: 'Only if the conditions allow because we're not going to make promises we can't keep'. #TrevorPhillips https://t.co/fhIHlpTGAF 📺 Sky 501 https://t.co/V0N1QlGUCt
"There's nothing in there about raising extra cash for social care", says Laura Kuenssberg of Labour manifesto Wes Streeting says "on funding, of course my ambition is to go further" When? How? Maybe an election manifesto would be a time to set that out ..? #BBCLauraK
Wes Streeting on Sky News this morning: “Where I disagree with The Nuffield Trust is the assumption they are making that this manifesto is the grand sum total of any future budgets and any future spending reviews. That is just wrong. That is not the way election campaigns work”