JEREMY Hunt vows to “put money back into people’s pockets” as he set out a path to lower taxes in this week’s Budget.
The Chancellor insisted any giveaways must be delivered in a “prudent and responsible” as he scrambles to finance any cuts.
Jeremy Hunt will deliver his Budget on Wednesday in bid to rescue Tory election hopes[/caption]
The Treasury hoped to have around £30 billion of wiggle room for sweeteners but that has been dramatically reduced to around £13 billion.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Mr Hunt will meet today to finalise the measures in Wednesday’s Budget as they plot to claw back Labour’s 20-point poll lead.
The Budget has been branded the ‘Tesco Value Budget’ as officials look to hit business flights, cigarettes and vapes with taxes to help finance any tax cuts.
Mr Hunt embarked on a series of TV and radio appearances this morning where he attempted to manage the public’s expectations but sais he had a “moral duty” to cut taxes.
He said: “I want to put money back into peoples’ pockets, but I’ll only do so in a way that is sensible, sustainable and for the long term.”
He said he hoped to “show a path” in the direction of tax cuts on the back of the Autumn Statement that saw 2p knocked off National Insurance contributions.
A final decision is yet to be made on whether 2p will be knocked off income tax or a there will be a further cut to national insurance.
Mr Hunt told the BBC: “I do want, where it is possible to do so responsibly, to move towards a lower tax economy, and I hope to show a path in that direction.
“This will be a prudent and responsible Budget for long-term growth, tackling inflation, more investment, more jobs and that path to lower taxation as and when we can afford that.”
Mr Hunt compared himself to the tax-cutting Chancellor Nigel Lawson in January but just weeks later had to dampen down expectations.
The Sun revealed this week that several areas of growth had not reached Treasury expectations seeing officials scrambling to find a £2 billion funding gap.
The tax burden has reached a 70-year high as the country pays back heavy borrowing costs built up during the pandemic and the cost of energy amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said bringing down the burden would mean “being responsible with public spending and showing that we are going to spend it more carefully”.
Mr Hunt also appeared to rule out scrapping or scaling back changes to the “non-dom” tax rules saying the Budget wouldn’t be a time for “gimmicks”.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said it would be an “abject humiliation” for the Tories if they implemented Labour’s nom-dom policy after senior Tories had “spent years rubbishing this idea”.
And Darren Jones, Shadow Treasury Minister, said: “The Chancellor says he wants to cut taxes, but it is the Tories who have raised taxes to their highest level in 70 years.
“No matter what the Chancellor does in the Budget this week, working people will be worse off thanks to 14 years of Tory failure.
“Only Labour has a plan to bring security back to family finances and make working people better off.”
