‘Underdog’ Tories are ‘fighting’ to stop Labour super-majority that will see taxes rise at record speed, Shapps warns
A LABOUR super-majority would give Sir Keir Starmer “untold, unchecked power” to hike taxes, the Defence Secretary has warned.
Grant Shapps conceded for the first time that the Tories were the “underdogs” but insisted his party could still win as he told voters not to hand Labour a “blank cheque”.
It is the second time in as many weeks the top Tory has warned of the risks of a huge Labour win.
The top Cabinet minister told Times Radio: “We believe that when you set out those enormous tax rises we’re going to be subject to under Labour, and our programme, fully costed with tax cuts.
“People will actually look at that again and say, ‘Hold on a minute, perhaps we are rushing too far into this.’
“And the risks of a blank cheque for Starmer are horrendous for this country. It doesn’t do the country any good to have that kind of size majority.”
“I think it’s absolutely right, proper, legitimate to warn about the big risks and danger of a supermajority, which could lead to untold, unchecked power, including to continue to raise your taxes at record speeds.
“We’re still fighting for absolutely every single vote, which is absolutely the right thing to do.
“But what I said last week stands, a blank cheque, a supermajority is a dangerous thing, particularly when we already know they have these plans to change the council tax bands.”
Some Tories fear an almost total wipeout in Parliament after some polls showed the party winning as little as 72 seats in July, handing Starmer a record-high 262-seat majority.
Conservatives say the Survation poll, if correct, would essentially allow Labour to govern unopposed for the next five years.
Mr Shapps was the first Tory minister to raise the alarm on a potential super-majority last week, but his warnings were repeated by other including Robert Jenrick and Sir Geoffrey Cox.
Ex-Attorney General Sir Geoffrey even said a three-figure majority would leave Britain “sleepwalking into a one-party socialist state”.
And last week Tory rising star Miriam Cates told our Never Mind The Ballots show that Starmer would be Tony Blair “on steroids” if given a crushing victory by the electorate.
It came as Mr Shapps conceded that a Tory victory was “not the most likely” outcome of the vote on July 4 for the first time.
Asked if a Tory win was unlikely, he admitted: “I think that’s the realistic position, isn’t it?
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“I mean, I live in the real world. So you know, let’s not try and pretend black is white.”
And speaking to LBC, he admitted: “We are the underdog, we are warning about unchecked power, a super-majority.
“They’re going to cost you a lot of money, it’s important to warn people about that.
“Is this an own goal to go early?
“That’s a decision that only the prime minister can make. It wasn’t my decision.”