Conservative X post takes comments made by Martin Lewis out of context

In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) the Conservative party claimed: “Labour have said they wouldn't put up your taxes. But it's now becoming clear that they have every intention to put them up 👇”.

The post features a video of consumer financial journalist and broadcaster Martin Lewis speaking on Good Morning Britain (GMB) earlier today.

In the clip Mr Lewis says: “I had a conversation with a senior member of the Labour party, a private conversation, as I do with both parties. And the exact phrase they used with me is, when I asked about a particular policy, they said: ‘we’re not putting it in our manifesto because I can’t commit we’ll do it, but it is my aim we will do it over the next parliament’.”

The Conservatives appear to be using Mr Lewis’s comment to suggest that Labour intends to increase taxes beyond what has been set out in the party’s manifesto.

But, as Mr Lewis himself has pointed out, this takes his comments out of context.

Replying to the Conservatives’ post directly, Mr Lewis said on X: “NO WHERE in this comment do I talk about taxes. And the policy that I discussed (i will keep private as it was private) was NOT about taxes, or tax rises, it was about something that would be a positive change. [sic]”

Mr Lewis’s comments on GMB followed an interview with Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, who, when asked whether she would rule out scrapping the 25% tax free allowance on pensions, said “we have set out all of our plans in the manifesto, there is nothing in our manifesto the requires us to make any other changes”.

Immediately after the comment clipped by the Conservatives Mr Lewis added: “what you heard there is ‘it’s not in our manifesto’, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t planned to be done.”

So while Mr Lewis did broadly question whether Labour, if elected, might look to introduce policies in the future that weren’t in the party’s manifesto, at no point does he specifically suggest Labour is planning to increase taxes in addition to what the party has already confirmed.

Mr Lewis did not offer any comment beyond what he said on social media. We’ve approached the Conservatives and the Labour party for comment and will update this post if we receive a response.