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 Sir Keir Starmer was last night accused of plotting ‘class war’ against Middle Britain.

The Prime Minister faced a ferocious backlash after suggesting those who own shares, property and savings are not ‘working people’, and indicating that anyone with more than a few thousand pounds in assets was fair game for tax rises in next week’s Budget.

Labour has pledged to protect ‘working people’ in the October 30 statement when Chancellor Rachel Reeves is planning to hike taxes by a staggering £35 billion.

But asked to define the term yesterday, Sir Keir said it included someone who ‘goes out and earns their living, usually paid in a sort of monthly cheque’, but who does not have the resources to ‘write a cheque to get out of difficulties’.

Asked if someone who derives their incomes from assets, such as shares, property or savings would qualify as a working person, the Prime Minister said: ‘They wouldn’t come within my definition.’ 

The Prime Minister faced backlash after suggesting those who own shares, property and savings are not ‘working people’

Keir Starmer (pictured in Apia, Samoa) insisted next week’s fiscal package would ‘rebuild’ services and the economy

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell (pictured left) chats with Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (pictured right) before the start of the International Monetary and Financial Committee in Washington, DC

His spokesman later scrambled to clarify that those with a ‘small amount of savings’ could still be defined as working people. This could include cash savings, or stocks and shares in a tax-free ISA, he suggested.

But landlords labelled the PM’s comments ‘insulting’ and ‘out of touch’. The focus on so-called ‘working people’ also alarmed pensioners, 10 million of whom have already been stripped of their winter fuel payments by Ms Reeves in her first act as Chancellor.

Tory MP Richard Holden said: ‘It appears that anyone with enough to pay for a minor emergency does not meet Sir Keir’s criteria of a “working person” and will be liable for big tax rises next week.’

Former Tory chancellor Norman Lamont accused the PM of ‘class war’, telling GB News: ‘I dislike this phrase “working people” – not just because of its ambiguity, but I think it’s deliberately designed to imply working class, which I think is an out-of-date idea, and it’s appealing to old-fashioned Labour mythology.

‘It’s a very unpleasant term. Why is a pensioner not a working person? They’ve worked all their life. It’s ridiculous.’

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Sir Keir declined to say if he qualified as a working person. His most recent tax return showed he paid £99,431 in 2022/23 on an income of £404,030. 

This included £52,688 in capital gains tax on the £275,739 sale of a field in December 2022.

The PM told Sky News those he had in mind were ‘doing all right’ but had an ‘anxiety in the bottom of their stomach’ about their ability to deal with a financial emergency. 

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Chancellor Rachel Reeves on a visit to Washington DC yesterday 

When asked if someone who derives their income from assets, such as shares, or property the PM remarked ‘they wouldn’t come within my definition’

The Prime Minister speaking at a summit in Samoa

Ms Reeves yesterday insisted, however, that the PM was indeed covered by her definition, telling LBC Radio: ‘He’s a working person. He goes out to work.’

One Tory source mocked Sir Keir over his acceptance of freebies, including suits and spectacles, from Labour donor Lord Alli, saying: ‘Working people are people who buy their own glasses.’

The Chancellor appeared to water down her manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on working people, saying: ‘The key taxes that working people pay will not be going up in the Budget.’

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A parliamentary question seeking the Government’s formal definition of ‘working people’, a phrase that was oft-repeated in the election campaign, was due to be answered on October 16 but is still awaiting a response. 

Sir Keir’s comments will underline fears that taxes on assets and wealth, such as capital gains tax and inheritance tax, are set for big hikes.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said it was ‘simply not true that landlords are not working people’ and urged the PM to stop ‘stoking misconceptions’.

Kate Davies, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, said it was ‘very unfortunate that the Prime Minister doesn’t regard private landlords as “working people”.’

Individual landlords also voiced their anger. Patricia McGirr, of Rossendale, Lancashire, said she had ‘worked long and very hard week in and week out’.

Landlords said the PM’s comments were ‘insulting’ and ‘out of touch’

Sir Keir Starmer with Paul Schroder, chief executive of AustralianSuper, John Neal, CEO of Lloyds of London, and Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, following his arrival in Apia, Samoa, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting yesterday 

The 59-year-old added: ‘I worked for the NHS for 14 years and began to invest to safeguard my family. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet are out of touch to think small-business owners and landlords don’t actually work for their money. 

‘Their policies are pushing everyone to the brink.’

Dennis Reed, of campaign group Silver Voices, said the PM’s language was alienating millions of pensioners. 

‘We are sick and tired of being regarded as second-class citizens, while all the emphasis is placed on the young and “working people”,’ he added.

‘We worked all our lives and paid National Insurance and taxes so that we could spend our retirement years in reasonable comfort and with dignity, not penned in one cold room with our hats and scarves on, and an empty fridge.

‘The Chancellor must change her attitude to pensioners, stop targeting us for savings, and recognise that how a society treats its older generations is a mark of its civilisation.’