Labour not looking to raise taxes to fund benefits, minister says after WhatsApp messages revealed

Labour MPs are not looking to raise taxes to fund more benefits, the cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has said. In messages between the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, and Peter Mandelson released on Monday, McFadden wrote: “Every meeting I have is: ‘Who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others?’ They’re asking the wrong questions.” The private WhatsApps were shared as part of a tranche of data that MPs voted to release in February relating to Mandelson’s appointment as US …