Balls: 'Death tax' not on agenda

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has firmly denied Conservative claims that Labour is planning a "death tax" to pay for care of the elderly or a penny on national insurance for the NHS if it wins power.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Balls insisted that he would prefer "all tax rates to be lower", pointing to Labour plans to reintroduce the 10p starting rate of income tax for the lowest earners.