Liam Byrne, one of the more experienced politicians in the cabinet, has today suggested that the Labour government is "done with tax rises". This is a comment which is guaranteed to grab the headlines and present the Labour government as the one which is friendly to UK voters while casting dark shadows over the Tory party and their proposed tax rises. This surprise move has caught the Conservatives offguard but is Liam Byrne really telling the truth?

The bottom line is that the Labour Party has already confirmed various national insurance tax rises and other tax increases which will come into effect over the next few years. Indeed, on further grilling by the media the UK government has also confirmed that no further tax rises have been ruled out, which sheds something of a different light on Liam Byrne’s claim. The truth is that the headlines for the next two or three days will give the impression that Labour is the party of the people and the Conservatives are a party of tax rises.

Whether this is correct or not is in fact irrelevant and it is the impression which voters are given in the short term which will impact upon the opinion polls and ultimately the result at the next election.

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