Public not buying Sunak's last-ditch election gambit

Rishi Sunak has put tax cuts at heart of his pitch to nation but a poll suggests more voters want to see spending on services

- DAVID MADDOX ALICJA HAGOPIAN

Trust in the Tories on tax has collapsed, a new poll has revealed, in another massive blow to Rishi Sunak as he tries to turn his party’s election fortunes around with less than three weeks to go.

According to an exclusive poll by Techne UK for The Independent, Sir Keir Starmer has a trust rating of more than double that of Mr Sunak as postal votes are sent out this weekend in a crucial stage of the campaign. It comes after the Tories put all their efforts into using tax as the key dividing issue and launched an assault on Labour’s plans in a last-ditch bid to stop Sir Keir from winning power with “a supermajority” on 4 July.

The gambit – involving chief Treasury secretary Laura Trott claiming Labour has plans for 18 secret tax rises, including a tax raid on selling homes – appeared to be an attempt to reverse the stubborn poll gap of around 20 points with Labour and see off a threat of being passed by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

The Techne UK poll of 1,636 UK voters revealed that 36 per cent trust Sir Keir most on tax compared to just 16 per cent for Mr Sunak. In a further blow to the prime minister, he is level pegging with Mr Farage on the issue as Reform also polled 16 per cent. It is understood that Mr Sunak has already faced a cabinet revolt behind the scenes because many did not think he offered enough on tax cuts in the party’s manifesto.