Labour MPs tell Ed to sack Balls or we will lost the next Election: Shadow Chancellor under fire after he blocks extra health tax A whispering campaign against Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has started Mr Balls is fighting battle with Andy Burnham over their manifesto policies He has categorically ruled out a ring-fenced tax to boost funding for NHS MPs have now put Labours Ed Miliband under pressure to sack Mr Balls By GLEN OWEN PUBLISHED: 01:45, 3 August 2014 | UPDATED: 09:01, 3 August 2014 28 shares 24 View comments Ed Miliband is coming under intense pressure from his MPs to sack Ed Balls to boost Labour’s prospects in next year’s General Election. The whispering campaign against the Shadow Chancellor has started as Mr Balls fights an increasingly open battle with health spokesman Andy Burnham over their manifesto policies. The group, who are largely affiliated to the unions, are swinging behind Mr Burnham’s call for the party to back a ring-fenced tax to boost funding for the NHS – a move that Mr Balls categorically ruled out yesterday. +4 +4 Under pressure: Ed Miliband (left) is coming under intense pressure from his MPs to sack Ed Balls (right) The MPs resent Mr Balls’s refusal to pledge extra money to the NHS in case the Tories cite it as an example of Labour’s profligacy. The MPs have grown concerned by the party’s failure to open up a commanding opinion poll lead over the Conservatives, with some recent surveys showing a gap down to just two per cent. More... Clegg goads Tories by saying immigration is good for UK: To unveil £1million plan to crack down on businesses paying migrants less than minimum wage BLACK DOG: Eds makeover has made him Prime Ministerial... hes morphed into Maggie No opposition party in recent political history has won Downing Street from such a weak electoral position. With just ten months until the Election, most of the MPs accept that a direct challenge to Mr Miliband is now unlikely, and so many have instead started calling for Mr Balls’s head as part of a wider Shadow Cabinet reshuffle which would promote Mr Burnham and see a return for former Chancellor Alistair Darling and ex-Home Secretary Alan Johnson. +4 Battle: Mr Balls is fighting an increasingly open battle with health spokesman Andy Burnham (pictured) over their manifesto policies The tension between Mr Burnham and Mr Balls erupted yesterday when Mr Balls slapped down the idea of either a 15 per cent ‘death tax’ levy on all estates to pay for social care of the elderly or an extra 1p on National Insurance as an ‘NHS tax’, both of which are understood to have the support of Mr Burnham. ‘People feel they are paying too much tax already,’ said Mr Balls. ‘We have to get the balance right between balancing the budget and making sure the NHS continues to deliver.’ Mr Miliband has promised a ‘summer offensive’ of major speeches by his frontbench team to build momentum into the autumn conference season. But many of his MPs were mortified when he used a speech last month to draw attention to his supposed resemblance to Wallace from the Wallace and Gromit series, saying he was ‘not from central casting’. Last night, Labour MP Graham Stringer led calls for a wide-ranging frontbench reshuffle after next month’s Scottish referendum. He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There needs to be a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle before the Labour party conference. After Scotland votes No to independence he [Miliband] should bring back Alistair Darling, who led the anti-independence campaign, and [former Home Secretary] Alan Johnson. Both of them have bags of experience, which our frontbench lacks. We also need to match the Tories’ new- found focus and drive.’ Mr Stringer added: ‘I cannot bear all this angst about jawlines and Wallace and Gromit. The public don’t want self-absorption. They want a focus on tough, clear policies that are relevant to their lives. ‘My view that things need to change is shared throughout the party. The only division is between those who think the debate should take place in private and the few of us who want it to take place in public.’ +4 Refusal: Mr Burnham has called for the Labour party to back a ring-fenced tax to boost funding for the NHS ¿ a move that Mr Balls categorically ruled out yesterday. Above, Mr Balls is pictured on The Andrew Marr Show And Grahame Morris, Labour MP for Easington, who is understood to support the sacking of Mr Balls, said: ‘I want to see Labour adopting bold policies to tackle the cost of living crisis, reverse the privatisation of the NHS and be ambitious in building a million affordable homes.’ Asked whether he thought Mr Balls should be sacked, Mr Morris said: ‘The choice of the Shadow Cabinet is a matter for the leader.’ Read more: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2714450/Labour-MPs-tell-Ed-sack-Balls-lost-Election-Shadow-Chancellor-fire-blocks-extra-health-tax.html#ixzz39JZ3bwFy Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 08:10:57 +0000
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