Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, reacting to revelations under the 30-year rule that David Cameron’s policy boss, Oliver Letwin, pushed to keep the Poll Tax, said:

“Oliver Letwin was a key architect of the poll tax, so enthusiastic about it he pressed Margaret Thatcher to push ahead with its introduction. Over the years he has called for further privatisation of the NHS and for public expenditure at 35 per cent of GDP. Today he is David Cameron’s policy chief at the heart of his Government. It seems that the Tory Party never changes.

"With a tax cut for millionaires and a secret plot for another VAT increase if they get in again, you just can’t trust the Tories on tax."​