Keir Starmer has stepped forward to address accusations that he is waging “war on middle Britain” as backlash intensifies over proposed tax policies targeting “working people”.

The British prime minister has cleared the air by rejecting claims that a “war on central Britain” is being waged.

In a Labor manifesto they promised not to increase taxes on “working people”; They expressly ruled out increases in VAT, national insurance and income tax.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to increase national insurance for employers rather than employees, according to Labor sources.

But the Government reacted by stating that those with modest savings in stocks and shares were still considered “working people” and that the Labor leader was aiming for someone who was primarily dependent on assets for their income.

The Prime Minister’s comments about employees have also raised fears of further tax increases.

Speaking at the end of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) in Samoa on Saturday, the prime minister was asked whether he was “planning a war on central Britain”.

“No. Let me make this clear,” he replied, “There are two things we did in the budget.

Keir added: “The first is to fix the fundamentals, which deals with the legacy we have, including the £22bn black hole. We have to deal with that. Leaders in the past have skirted these problems, created fictions, and I’m not prepared to do that.”

When asked about misleading the public in the Labor Party manifesto, the Prime Minister replied: “No, we were very clear about the tax increases that we necessarily had to do regardless of the circumstances, and you listed them there, so I listed them.” , I don’t know how many times in the campaign.”

Keir said: “We were equally clear in the manifesto and in the campaign that we would not increase taxes on working people, and we explained what we meant by that in terms of income tax, in terms of NICs (National Insurance contributions). In terms of VAT, we also aim to deliver on the promises we made in our manifesto.”

It is noteworthy that Reeves has a 40 billion pound tax increase plan in next Wednesday’s budget.