Tory calls for PM to slash ‘unsustainable’ tax burden – as Rishi Sunak takes on first conference as Conservative Party leader
Top Tories are setting out their policies as the Conservative Party conference kicks off in Manchester – with levelling up, immigration and the next general election on the agenda.
A number of stories have already broken overnight, including:
• New levelling up funding for “overlooked” British towns
• Tory backbenchers hitting out over the “unsustainable” level of tax
• Pressure from a former leadership contender for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights
• Reports an election could be called when inflation falls below 3%
• Attacks by a minister on celebrities criticising government policy
Rishi Sunak has announced that more than 50 “overlooked” British towns will be given £20m each over the next 10 years to regenerate high streets, tackle anti-social behaviour and grow their local economies.
However, figures suggest this £1bn of levelling up funding will mostly go to constituencies held by Conservative MPs – or Labour seats with small majorities.
Read more: Is your town on the list?
The prime minister has claimed that politicians have always focused on cities, despite many Britons living and working in towns.
He said: “The result is the half-empty high streets, rundown shopping centres and anti-social behaviour that undermine many towns’ prosperity and hold back people’s opportunity – and without a new approach, these problems will only get worse.”
Mr Sunak is set to use his first conference as leader to focus on policies that could narrow the gap against Sir Keir Starmer, with opinion polls currently putting the government about 18 points behind Labour.
But on the fringes of the conference, backbench Tories are set to urge the PM to slash an “unsustainable” tax burden on consumers and businesses – with former prime minister Liz Truss calling for corporation tax to be lowered back to 19%.
The Tory leader is also coming under pressure to consider quitting the European Convention on Human Rights, with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch becoming the second cabinet minister in a week to raise the issue.
Meanwhile, The Sunday Times is reporting that Jeremy Hunt was secretly recorded saying Mr Sunak will call an election once inflation falls below 3%, with the chancellor telling Tory activists that the Bank of England forecasts this will be achieved next autumn.
Elton John and Suella Braverman
Braverman attacks ‘pampered’ celebrities
Two cabinet ministers have given interviews to Sunday newspapers as the four-day conference gets under way.
Sunday’s focus will be on the state of the nation, followed by the economy on Monday. Tackling Channel crossings and bringing down NHS waiting lists will follow on Tuesday, paving the way for the prime minister’s speech on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Suella Braverman attacked celebrities who have criticised her controversial immigration policies – dismissing them as “pampered and out of touch”.
Analysis: Challenges for Sunak
The Conservative conference hasn’t even begun and already we’re seeing some very traditional conservative flashpoints emerge: tax, migration, the environment and Europe.
Dozens of MPs have launched a pre-emptive strike on the government by signing a pledge vowing to vote against any further tax rises.
One signatory described this as simply drawing “a line in the sand”.
There’ll also be a “rally for growth” on Monday, hosted by former prime minister Liz Truss – who this time last year was fighting her own internal critics.
But there’s also chest beating coming from within the cabinet.
Former leadership contender Kemi Badenoch has used a newspaper interview to make some not-so-subtle interventions on the hot-button topics of net zero and the European Convention on Human Rights.
That comes days after another person with ambitions for the top job, Suella Braverman, made her own somewhat freelance incursion into broader migration policy.
Rishi Sunak wants this conference to be about long-term planning and decision making.
But he can’t escape short-term challenges – and the political vibrations they are sending through his party.
BBC presenter Gary Lineker has been a vocal critic of the government’s approach, while Sir Elton John recently warned their policies risk “legitimising hate and violence”.
Ms Braverman told the newspaper they were members of a “virtue-signalling elite” who lecture Britons from villas and private jets, and suggested they were out of touch with the challenges faced by everyday people.
Read more:
Sunak mocked in leaked WhatsApps
Can Team Rishi turns things around?
Hunt vows to halt ‘vicious circle’ of tax hikes
Watch Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips at 8.30am on Sky News – live from the Conservative Party conference. He will be joined by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, former home secretary Dame Priti Patel, and Labour’s shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray.
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