- Letwin said a failure to spend enough was putting extra strain on the NHS
- He called on the Government to increase spending via new and higher taxes
- Letwin’s claim came after Philip Hammond did not rule out higher taxation
The Tories should hike taxes and spend billions more on providing social care, party grandee Sir Oliver Letwin claimed today.
Sir Oliver, who was David Cameron’s policy guru, said Government was not spending enough and needed new revenues.
The intervention came on the fringes of the Manchester Party Conference today and hours after Chancellor Philip Hammond refused to rule out tax rises.
The Tories should hike taxes and spend billions more on providing social care, party grandee Sir Oliver Letwin (file image) claimed today
Asked about spending more, Sir Oliver told party activists: ‘Yes, I think in the case of social care for the elderly and the NHS, which are the guts of the argument at the moment about public services and incredibly important to millions of people in this country.
‘The fact is we aren’t spending enough on social care at the moment. That is causing severe strain to the NHS.
‘I don’t believe we should try to fund that through massive extra borrowing. I think we should be willing to raise taxes somewhat to do that.’
The party grandee, who was re-elected in West Dorset in June, said the Tories must take the fight to Labour to ensure it could not win power.
He said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn is setting out a Venezuela-style socialism … I think it is socialism red in tooth and claw, actually.
‘Right before our eyes there is Venezuela. It has followed a programme remarkably similar to that which Jeremy Corbyn is advocating, with disastrous results.’
The intervention came hours after Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured today in Manchester with Theresa May) refused to rule out tax rises
The Chancellor, who is making his main conference speech today, refused to rule ou taxes rises in a series of major interviews today.
Pressed repeatedly on whether he would hike taxes, he told the Radio 4 Today programme: ‘We will have to be prepared to support the economy during this difficult period.’