Jeremy Hunt considers major benefits squeeze to help slash inheritance tax
The chancellor has warned “difficult decisions” need to be made to “reform the welfare state” as he mulls introducing controversial tax cuts in next week’s autumn statement.
Jeremy Hunt said there is “no easy way to reduce the tax burden” following reports he’s looking to slash inheritance tax and levies on businesses.
Tax levels are at a 70-year-high, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, and Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure from the Tory right to get them down before the next general election.
Mr Hunt is said to be considering a big squeeze on benefits in order to find savings in next Wednesday’s statement, effectively cutting working age welfare payments for millions of people.
Speaking in Milton Keynes on Saturday, Mr Hunt said: “There’s no easy way to reduce the tax burden.
“What we need to do is take difficult decisions to reform the welfare state.”
Can the chancellor lift the gloom? Watch live coverage on Sky News of the autumn statement from 11am on Wednesday
Typically, ministers uprate working age benefits based on the September figure for inflation – so a 6.7% hike.
But the chancellor has not ruled out using October’s figure instead, which would mean a 4.6% rise.
Economists say this would equate to a £3bn spending cut, largely impacting households receiving means-tested or disability benefits.
The move would be bound to draw criticism for supporting the wealthy while others struggle with the cost of living.
Conservative former chancellor Lord Clarke said some voters would find it “appalling”.
Slashing inheritance tax – which is charged at 40% on estates of more than £325,000, with an extra £175,000 towards a main residence passed to direct descendants – would only help a relatively small percentage of the population.
Just 4% of deaths in 2020/21 resulted in any being paid.
The options for cutting the tax include reducing it by 50%, 30% or 20%, according to The Times.
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Trevor Phillips to quiz chancellor
‘We will take path to tax cuts’
Mr Hunt has appeared to tease the cuts, claiming the UK has reached “a turning point for the economy”.
He told The Telegraph this week: “The big message on tax cuts is there is a path to reducing the tax burden and a Conservative government will take that path.”
Reports suggest the Tories could pledge to abolish inheritance tax entirely ahead of next year’s election.
It could cost £7bn a year in the short term, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies forecast the amount that the tax raises could rise to more than £15bn by 2033.
Concerns were raised after a Bloomberg article reported Kraken was “actively reviewing” which tokens it could continue to list under the European Union’s upcoming MiCA framework.
The conviction of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev reinforces a very broad interpretation of criminal liability, which has major repercussions for blockchain.
The defence secretary has said he is “angry inside” over the infected blood scandal ahead of a long-waited report into the decades-long injustice.
Grant Shapps told Sky News he agreed it had been one of the most “shameful failures” of government and said he was dismayed by the “lack of anybody taking responsibility”.
The findings of a public inquiry into the scandal, chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, are due to be published on Monday.
From 1970 to the 1990s, tens of thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood through blood products or blood transfusions given via the NHS. People were infected with hepatitis or HIV – in some cases with both.
An estimated 3,000 people died as a result.
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Mr Shapps told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the scandal was a “massive injustice which needs to be put right” and said the government would act on the report.
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Thousands of people died after being given infected blood
He said that while he was yet to see the report, he hoped it would finally allow families’ pain and loss to be acknowledged and for the government to properly respond.
Mr Shapps said he had spoken to relatives of several victims, including a couple who had lost their son, and said their stories made feel him “angry inside”.
He added: “It just made me angry to know they had lost their son without anyone ever taking responsibility, so I think this is why this report tomorrow is very important.”
Successive governments have been blamed for failing to take responsibility and the current government has been accused of trying to delay compensation to victims after an inquiry was first set up by Theresa May in 2017.
It is estimated that the compensation bill could now exceed £10m.
The defence secretary admitted the process of delivering payouts to victims had gone on for “so long”.
He added: “This is a massive injustice which needs to be put right.
“And I know the government said we will. The report tomorrow, I think, will be the day for that family and others and I know the government will want to respond quickly.”
Asked whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would apologise to the victims, Mr Shapps said: “I don’t want to mislead because I don’t have special insight into that.”
Read more:
Boy, 7, was used in secret blood trials, parents say
Doctor’s horror over scandal
Blood donations ‘collected from UK prisons’
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Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also told Trevor Phillips that he expected “successive governments” to be criticised in the report by Sir Brian.
“Everyone has got their responsibility to bear in this appalling scandal and we have got a shared responsibility to put it right,” he said.
“The moment to act can’t come soon enough.”
Sir Brian is due to deliver his final report just after midday on Monday.
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