Yvette Cooper criticises use of Commons slot reserved for national emergencies, saying Theresa May became a 'human shield'
The government has been accused of rushing out plans for minimum alcohol pricing in an attempt to deflect attention from a widely criticised budget.
Amid tense scenes in the House of Commons on Friday, the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, accused ministers of misusing procedures normally reserved for national emergencies to present the plans to parliament. At one point, she described the home secretary, Theresa May, as a "human shield", being used to protect David Cameron and George Osborne. Downing Street made no attempt to deny Labour's claim that the government's long-awaited response to the consultation on minimum alcohol pricing had been brought forward, having originally been scheduled for Monday.
The Commons clash followed two days of hostile headlines, with widespread criticism of the government for changes to the tax allowances for pensioners, plans that would bring more than a million middle-income earners into a higher-rate tax band and cutting the 50p tax rate for top earners.
Invited to respond to May's announcement of a minimum price on alcohol, Cooper said MPs had been given just two hours' notice of the Commons statement after newspapers were briefed about the plans on Thursday night.
She told the half-empty chamber that in the past 10 years there had been only three government statements in the Commons on a Friday – a day when most MPs return to their constituencies – all relating to national emergencies involving the Iraq war, swine flu and Libya. "What is the national emergency today?" she said. "The only emergency is that the prime minister and the chancellor have gone wobbly over the coverage of their budget.
"Their budget has gone wrong because pensioners are furious about the granny tax, because middle-earners are shocked to discover they will be paying the higher rate and everyone else is furious to discover they are bringing in a £10,000 tax break for the highest earners in the country, including, we discover, half the cabinet. "The home secretary is being used as a human shield for the chancellor and the prime minister and she should have said 'no'," she said.
May dismissed the comments as the "usual response … bluster and political point scoring" as the government proposed a minimum price of 40p per unit of alcohol in England and Wales. She said Labour should apologise for the "disaster" of its Licensing Act – which allowed pubs to apply for licences to open for up to 24 hours in England and Wales - and for an election text message in 2001 saying the party "couldn't give a XXXX for closing time".
May said: "We were promised under Labour's Licensing Act 2003 a European-style cafe culture. Nothing could be further from the truth in many of our town centres on a Friday and Saturday night."
No 10 said it had always been the intention to publish its plans before the Commons rises next week for the Easter recess, although a spokeswoman acknowledged that the timing had changed.
Osborne announced controversial measures in his budget on Wednesday to cut the top rate of income tax paid by high earners and to equalise pensioners' tax-free allowance with that of the under-65s. The tax-free allowance for people of working age is to rise again by £1,100 to £9,205 next year – but it will still be slightly lower than the current £10,500 allowance for many over-65s.
An e-petition has been posted on the No 10 website calling for the restoration of the age-related allowances for over-65s.