By Simon Walters PUBLISHED: 20:23 EST, 25 January 2014 | UPDATED: 20:49 EST, 25 January 2014 Backlash: Ed Balls addresses the Fabian Society yesterday Labour was facing a damaging split last night after allies of  Tony Blair accused Ed Miliband of taking the party back to the 1970s when it vowed to ‘tax the rich until the pips squeak’. The backlash came after Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said that a future Labour Government would raise the top rate of income tax from 45p in the pound to 50p for those earning over £150,000, reversing a cut made by David Cameron. Mr Balls claimed the increase was vital to reduce the budget deficit ‘more fairly’.
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Blair allies accuse the Shadow Chancellor of 'economic illiteracy'
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They say 'Socialist' move takes the party back to days of Harold Wilson
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Survation interviewed 1,064 people online yesterday afternoon
On the face of it, @placeholder’s plan to raise the top-rate of tax to 50p is a vote-winner.
But the problem for Mr @placeholder and Labour leader Ed Miliband is that voters do not trust them – or their motives.