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The government promised not to increase taxes on “workers” in Wednesday's budget.
However, as the big day approaches, it's still unclear exactly what this means, who Chancellor Rachel Reeves will protect or who will receive a Halloween shock.
So what have Labor ministers defined as a working person?
“Someone who earns a living”
British workers “know exactly who they are”, Sir Keir said on Monday, who pledged to “protect their pay slips”.
Last week he went into more detail, defining it as someone who “goes out and earns a living, usually paid in the form of some sort of monthly check” and who cannot “write a check to get by difficulties”.
He was asked last week whether those who work – but receive additional income from assets such as stocks or real estate – would be considered workers.
They “wouldn’t fit my definition,” he said.
Speaking afterwards, Sir Keir's spokesperson clarified that those with a “small amount of savings” could still be defined as workers.
This could include saving cash or stocks and shares in a tax-free individual savings account (ISA), he suggested.
“Wrestlers who graft”
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Rachel Reeves had a different definition. Workers are “graft fighters”, according to the Chancellor.
She wrote in the Sun on Sunday that her budget was aimed at “hard-working families across the country who are demanding change.”
“To these people, I say: I support you. This is your budget. I will make it happen for you. This is a budget for those who are struggling.”
She said the decision to increase National Insurance (NI) contributions paid by employers does not break Labor's commitment to protecting “working people”, even if the business is small.
Even if an increase in employer contributions could nevertheless weigh on workers.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said if the government increased the NI paid by employers it would be a “blatant breach” of their manifesto commitment, on the grounds that the manifesto did not explicitly distinction between employers and employers. and NI employee.
“People who go to work”
“Workers are people who go to work to earn money,” Treasury Minister James Murray told the BBC's Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
When asked repeatedly if he counted owners among that group, or if those who owned stock were considered workers, Murray responded, “I'm not going to get into too many hypotheticals here, Nick .”
“We are talking about how people earn their income,” he said, adding that ministers wanted to protect people who “earn their income from work”.
“People who run businesses? »
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was asked: “Why aren't people who run businesses working?”
She avoided saying whether she thought business owners could be considered workers.
She told the BBC on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that “workers” were those whose main source of income came from “work”.
Phillipson added that “workers will not see higher taxes on the pay slips they receive” following the budget.
“Not about this job or that one”
Asked by Sky News whether or not owners are considered workers, Minister Pat McFadden said: “I don't think it's about definitions of this work, that work, a certain level of income where if you earn a pound more than that, you “don't work”.
He also avoided answering whether or not business owners or landowners were considered workers.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “When we talk about people, we are referring to the promises we made in the manifesto about the taxes and wages that people pay. They will not increase when the Chancellor will rise on Wednesday.
He added that “workers” is not a “definition of salary.”
Ultimately, however workers define themselves, former Bank of England governor Mervyn King says the impact of a big tax rise will be the same.
If businesses face higher taxes, then they will be less likely to create new jobs and, therefore, raise wages, he suggested.
“Ultimately they depend on how much people can spend, and you can only raise significant amounts of money by raising taxes on most people, however you define that, but “most people will have to pay higher taxes,” he told Sky. News.
