Jeremy Hunt hints at further tax cuts in upcoming budget as he compares himself to Nigel Lawson
Jeremy Hunt has compared himself to tax-cutting former chancellor Nigel Lawson as he suggested using his spring budget to “relieve pressure on families”.
Ahead of the budget on 6 March, the chancellor said the government’s plan of “prioritising tax cuts” is working, and they will “stick to it”.
Mr Hunt went on to liken his record to that of the late Mr Lawson, who slashed personal taxation while serving in the Thatcher government.
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“Just as Nigel Lawson positioned the City of London for the finance boom in the 1980s, this period of Conservative government has seen the UK positioned for the massive technological boom we’re set to see in the coming years,” he said, writing in the Mail On Sunday.
“The most dynamic economies tend to be places with lower taxes. The lesson is clear: supporting businesses with competitive taxes – not more government spending – is the way to growth,” he added in another part of the article.
“We Conservatives have always known that, of course – but it is worth remembering. The plan is working. That’s why we need to stick to it. It means cutting taxes, not raising them.”
It comes after The Financial Times reported that Mr Hunt could be handed up to £10bn in extra headroom against his fiscal targets in the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts, paving the way for deeper tax cuts.
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Chancellor aims to cut taxes
And, in November’s autumn statement, the main rate of national insurance was reduced by two percentage points, from 12% to 10%, on 6 January, a change which the Treasury says will make workers £450 better off a year.
In his own piece in The Sun on Sunday, Rishi Sunak said that “because of the disciplined way we have run the economy” the government was able to introduce this month’s reduction in national insurance contributions.
“Where we can, we will always prioritise tax cuts to put more of people’s money back in their pockets,” the Tory leader wrote.
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‘Words will read hollow to millions’
The announcement from Mr Hunt comes as the battle lines are drawn against Labour ahead of a general election.
Reacting to the article, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said: “Jeremy Hunt’s words will read hollow to the millions of people who have been left worse off after 14 years of economic failure.
“Prices are still rising in the shops, monthly mortgage bills are soaring and the average family will be £1,200 worse off under the Tories’ tax plan.
“Britain needs change and a Labour government, not five more years of Conservative failure.”
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Reform’s plan was meant to be detailed. Instead, there’s more confusion.
The party had grown weary of the longstanding criticism that their tough talk on immigration did not come with a full proposal for what they would do to tackle small boats if they came to power.
So, after six months of planning, yesterday they attempted to put flesh on to the bones of their flagship policy.
Politics latest: Farage rows back on pledge to deport illegal migrant women and girls
At an expensive press conference in a vast airhanger in Oxford, the headline news was clear: Reform UK would deport anyone who comes here by small boat, arresting, detaining and then deporting up to 600,000 people in the first five years of governing.
They would leave international treaties and repeal the Human Rights Act to do it
But, one day later, that policy is clear as mud when it comes to who this would apply to.
Nigel Farage launched an airport-style departures board to illustrate how many illegal migrants have arrived in the UK. Pic: PA
I asked Farage at the time of the announcement whether this would apply to women and girls – an important question – as the basis for their extreme policy seemed to hinge on the safety of women and girls in the UK.
He was unequivocal: “Yes, women and children, everybody on arrival will be detained.
“And I’ve accepted already that how we deal with children is a much more complicated and difficult issue.”
But a day later, he appeared to row back on this stance at a press conference in Scotland, saying Reform is “not even discussing women and children at this stage”.
Read more:
Farage has a new ‘leave’ campaign – here’s how it could work
He later clarified that if a single woman came by boat, then they could fall under the policy, but if “a woman comes with children, we will work out the best thing to do”.
A third clarification in the space of 24 hours on a flagship policy they worked on over six months seems like a pretty big gaffe, and it only feeds into the Labour criticism that these plans aren’t yet credible.
If they had hoped to pivot from rhetoric to rigour, this announcement showed serious pitfalls.
But party strategists probably will not be tearing out too much hair over this, with polling showing Reform UK still as the most trusted party on the issue of immigration overall.
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