Stick with us and there will be more tax cuts to come, Sunak tells voters
It comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the ‘direction of travel’ was for the UK to emulate successful low-tax economies.
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Your support makes all the difference.There is “more to come” in terms of tax cuts following this month’s reduction in national insurance contributions, Rishi Sunak has signalled.
The Prime Minister urged voters to “stick with” his Conservative Government as he insisted his economic plan “is working” ahead of a general election expected in the autumn.
Mr Sunak’s comments come after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt dropped further hints about a tax-cutting Budget while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday that the “the direction of travel” was for the UK to emulate successful low-tax economies.
We said that we do want to cut taxes for future events when we can responsibly do so
The Prime Minister, asked about Mr Hunt’s remarks on Friday, said his administration had made clear it wanted “to cut taxes for future” fiscal events following the national insurance reduction that was announced in the autumn statement in November.
He told broadcasters during a political visit to Eastleigh in Hampshire that he wanted to build a country where hard work is “rewarded”.
“I want people to have the peace of mind that the future is better for them,” he said.
“And the fact that our plan is working, that we are now able to start cutting taxes because of our management of the economy, should give people that confidence that the future will be better for them.
“And that is what I want to see happening in the future too.”
Following the Chancellor’s autumn statement announcement, the main rate of national insurance was reduced by two percentage points, from 12% to 10%, on January 6.
The Treasury says the change means a worker on a £35,000 salary will be £450 better off a year.
Mr Sunak said it amounted to a “meaningful” tax cut for 27 million people in work following the cost-of-living crisis as he dangled the prospect of further giveaways during the spring Budget on March 6.
“We said that we do want to cut taxes for future events when we can responsibly do so,” the Tory leader said.
“Our priorities are very clear. It is controlling spending and welfare so that we can cut people’s taxes.
“The plan is working, because we are already doing it — stick with it and there is more to come.”
Mr Sunak on Friday was also asked about the surprise increase in UK inflation.
UK prices were found to have risen at a faster rate than forecasters expected last month.
The Office for National Statistics said this week that Consumer Prices Index inflation rose to 4% in December, up from 3.9% in November, marking the first increase since February last year.
The Prime Minister, who made halving inflation in 2023 one of his five pledges to the electorate ahead of the election, said other major economies had experienced similar upticks in inflation.
Asked whether he was frustrated by the increase, he told BBC Radio Solent: “No, look, inflation doesn’t come down in a straight line.
“And like the US, France and Germany as well, everyone has ticked up a little bit in December.
“But the key news here is, when I got this job, inflation was around 11%, now it is 4%, so it has more than halved.
“That didn’t happen by accident. It is because we had a plan.
“We took difficult decisions which aren’t easy. But we controlled borrowing and welfare and spending. Because of that, the plan has worked and we are able to now cut people’s taxes.”