Rishi Sunak says he’ll cut taxes before and after election – by curbing welfare and govt spending
Rishi Sunak has vowed to cut taxes before and after the general election – but has warned they will be funded by curbing benefits and government spending.
Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, the prime minister sought to create a clear contrast between the Conservatives and Labour as campaigning begins.
While Mr Sunak insisted his priority is cutting taxes, he claimed that they would continue to rise if Sir Keir Starmer enters Downing Street.
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The PM’s pledge comes a day after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he was unsure whether the government could afford to slash taxes further.
During an interview in Nottinghamshire, Mr Sunak refused to be drawn on which taxes he intends to cut, with inheritance tax a particular cause for concern among many Tory MPs.
But at an event with local supporters and business leaders, he did hint that the VAT threshold of £85,000 would not be increased.
And indicating that national insurance and income tax may be at the top of his wishlist, Mr Sunak told the newspaper: “I believe in the nobility of work, I believe work is central to people’s lives. And I believe that a society where people are working hard should be one where their hard work is rewarded.”
The PM pointed to his recently announced cut to NI – which came into force yesterday – as evidence of the progress his government has made.
An estimated 27 million payroll employees will benefit from national insurance falling from 12% to 10%, and someone on the average UK salary of £35,000 will save £450 a year.
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Chancellor: ‘NI cut rewards work’
“The autumn statement delivered the biggest set of tax cuts in one event since the 1980s,” Mr Sunak said. “That should give people a sense of the scale of what we’ve just done, and a sense of my ambition and the chancellor’s determination to cut taxes.”
Despite this, the tax burden is expected to rise to the highest level since the Second World War by the end of the decade – primarily because income tax thresholds have been frozen, dragging workers into higher rates when they receive pay rises.
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Mr Sunak warned further tax cuts will mean “difficult decisions” on public spending and controlling welfare, adding: “Lots of people will say to us ‘Oh gosh, you’re not going to spend enough here, there and everywhere.’
“I’m going to be crystal clear: my priority is cutting taxes, not more government spending. We need a more efficient public sector, not a bigger public sector.
“So that’s the plan. The only way to cut your taxes over time is to have a smaller, more efficient public sector.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, the prime minister claimed Labour “doesn’t care” about reducing the number of small boats crossing the Channel.
And he appeared to shrug off the possibility of Nigel Farage making a comeback to lead Reform UK, saying: “The choice at the next election, either I’m going to be prime minister at the end of it, or Keir Starmer is going to be prime minister at the end of it.”
Mr Sunak’s interview comes days after Sir Keir kickstarted his election campaign – and declared he will “fight fire with fire” if the Tories “go low” during the race.
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, the Labour leader refused to commit to unfreezing tax thresholds if he gains the keys to Number 10.
However, he did pledge that any Tory reductions to inheritance tax would be reversed because “further tax cuts for those that are very wealthy” is not the right way forward.
Sir Keir Starmer will be interviewed live on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sky News.
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance has clarified its views on proof-of-work mining, arguing that such activities do not constitute “the offer and sale of securities” as outlined in the Securities Act of 1933, so long as they meet certain criteria.
In a March 20 statement, the SEC division addressed the “mining of crypto assets that are intrinsically linked to the programmatic functioning of a public, permissionless network” and determined that decentralized PoW networks should not be treated as securities.
Although the SEC’s statement did not name any specific blockchain, its views on certain PoW activities apply to permissionless networks where mining is used to participate in the consensus mechanism. The statement applies to solo miners and mining pools participating in such networks.
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance gives its view on PoW “protocol mining activities.” Source: SEC
Although Bitcoin (BTC) is by far the largest and most significant PoW chain, there are several others, including Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC) and Monero (XMR). US regulators have long considered Bitcoin to be a commodity and not a security — a view that also extends to Litecoin and Dogecoin, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Source: Cointelegraph
Related: Trump says US will be ‘Bitcoin superpower’ as BTC price breaks 4-month downtrend
A pro-crypto policy tailwind
Digital asset markets, including PoW chains, are set to flourish under US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to make America the world’s blockchain and crypto capital.
In addition to appointing a pro-crypto replacement to Gary Gensler at the SEC, the president has established the Council of Advisers on Digital Assets to advance common-sense regulations for the industry.
On March 19, the council’s executive director, Bo Hines, revealed that a comprehensive stablecoin bill could land on the president’s desk in a matter of months.
The same day, the Blockchain Association, an industry advocacy group, said a cryptocurrency market structure bill is expected by the summer.
“I think we’re close to being able to get those done for August […] They’re doing a lot of work on that behind the scenes right now,” said Kristin Smith, the Blockchain Association’s CEO.
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Onchain sleuth ZachXBT said he had identified the mysterious whale who profited $20 million from highly leveraged trades on Hyperliquid and GMX as a British hacker going by the name William Parker.
According to ZachXBT’s March 20 X post, Parker — who was previously known as Alistair Packover before changing his name — was arrested last year for allegedly stealing around $1 million from two casinos in 2023.
Parker also made headlines a decade ago for allegations of hacking and gambling, ZachXBT said.
“It is abundantly clear WP/AP has not learned his lesson over the years after serving time for fraud and will likely continue gambling,” ZachXBT said.
Source: ZachXBT
Related: Hyperliquid ups margin requirements after $4 million liquidation loss
ZachXBT said his findings are based on a phone number provided by a person who allegedly received a payment from the whale trader’s wallet address.
He also said that public wallet addresses associated with the whale trader received proceeds from past onchain phishing schemes.
Cointelegraph has not independently verified ZachXBT’s claims.
Massive leveraged bets
The mysterious whale rose to prominence after profiting approximately $20 million from highly leveraged trades — in some cases with up to 50x leverage — on decentralized perpetuals exchanges Hyperliquid and GMX.
On March 12, the trader intentionally liquidated an approximately $200 million Ether (ETH) long, causing Hyperliquid’s liquidity pool to lose $4 million.
Meanwhile, the whale earned profits of some $1.8 million.
Hyperliquid said the liquidation was not an exploit but rather a predictable consequence of how the trading platform operates under extreme conditions. The DEX later revised its collateral rules for traders with open positions to guard against such occurrences in the future.
On March 14, the whale took another multimillion-long position, this time on Chainlink (LINK).
Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are leveraged futures contracts with no expiry date. Traders deposit margin collateral — typically USDC (USDC) for Hyperliquid — to secure open positions.
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