Rishi Sunak 'wants 2p tax cut before next year's election'

2023-06-04

Rishi Sunak ‘wants 2p tax cut before next year’s election’ – even if inflation falls slower than expected

Officials believe slow fall in Britain’s inflation rate will not prevent a tax cut

Rishi Sunak wants to cut taxes by as much as 2p in the pound before next year’s general election, it was claimed last night.

Government officials believe that a slower-than-expected fall in Britain’s high inflation rate would not prevent a tax cut from April.

The Prime Minister previously said he wants to cut taxes but only once the hole in the public finances has been fixed, also pledging to halve inflation this year.

The Telegraph reported that the tax cuts under consideration could be introduced via Britain’s National Insurance social security system or personal income tax.

Mr Sunak’s Conservative Party is far behind the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls. Many Conservative lawmakers want Sunak to cut taxes, even as demands grow for more spending on public services, including the health system.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured) wants to cut taxes by as much as 2p in the pound before the next national election expected in 2024

Mr Sunak and Jeremy Hunt (pictured) both said they want lower taxes but clashed with Tory MPs over their refusal to commit to cuts before the next general election

According to The Telegraph, Sunak wanted to follow up on tax cuts in 2024 by going into the next election with a revived pledge to cut income tax rates by 1p in each year of the next parliament.

Another idea at No 10 is to raise the thresholds at which workers start paying both income tax and National Insurance after the Prime Minister ‘equalised’ the levels for the levies at £12,570. But this move is seen as highly expensive.

Mr Sunak and Jeremy Hunt both said they want lower taxes but clashed with Tory MPs over their refusal to commit to cuts before the next general election.

It comes after Mr Hunt admitted last month that he ‘agrees’ taxes are too high – but dismissed Tory calls for immediate cuts.

The Chancellor said MPs and businesses were right to be ‘worried’ about the burden the government was having to impose.

But he insisted his immediate priority is to get inflation down, and delivered a stark warning that there might not be ‘headroom’ for a reduction before the next election.

The comments came as Mr Hunt was grilled at the BCC conference of business leaders in London this morning.

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