A controversial minister who campaigned to scrap the pensions triple lock and hike taxes on the middle classes has been appointed to help Rachel Reeves write the Budget.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell has been quietly promoted to help the Chancellor prepare for an autumn Budget where she has to fill a black hole in the public finances estimated at £50billion.
Treasury sources said the Chancellor views Mr Bell as one of Labour’s ‘sharpest minds’. But critics pointed out that he spent years campaigning for higher taxes and spending while leading the Left-wing Resolution Foundation think-tank.
During his time as an adviser to Ed Miliband, Mr Bell was also responsible for the disastrous ‘Ed Stone’ project which saw Labour mocked for carving its 2015 election pledges on an eight-foot slab of limestone.
Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride warned that the appointment reinforced fears that Ms Reeves is plotting another ‘punishing’ Budget this autumn. ‘Labour’s latest appointment confirms their intent – higher taxes, more borrowing, and punishing success,’ he said.
