Only ‘idiots’ think taxes can be cut this year, says Rishi Sunak in swipe at restless Tory MPs
ONLY “idiots” think taxes can be cut this year, Rishi Sunak warned yesterday in swipe at his own restless MPs.
The Prime Minister insisted he wished he could take an axe to tax straight away but had to fix the battered economy first.
He told voters in Lancashire: "That is what I want to deliver. I wish I could do that tomorrow quite frankly, but the reason we can't is because of all the reasons you know. You are not idiots, you know what has happened."
“We had a massive pandemic for two years, then we have got this war going on which is having an enormous impact on inflation and interest rates.”
He sounded the alarm during a “town hall” meeting in Morecambe to field questions from the public after fresh calls from his own MPs to cut taxes.
It was the first of many “PM Connect” trips - a plan first revealed by us to boost his flagging poll numbers ahead of the next election.
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There is speculation the PM and his Chancellor will seek to placate Red Wall MPs by keeping the 5p cut in fuel duty — in place since last year.
But asked by the Sun to rule out increasing taxes at March's Budget, Mr Sunak sidestepped the question, saying only: “I am a Conservative. I want to cut your taxes, of course I do.
“Because you all work incredibly hard and I want you to keep more of your money so you can spend it on the stuff that you want to.
As Chancellor and a candidate for Tory leader Mr Sunak vowed to slash income tax by a penny next year - and then go even further.
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But Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement last year actually increased the burden and insiders warn the upcoming Spring Budget will not bring it back down.
A Treasury source said: “It would be a waste of capital to do it now. And there's plenty of time before the next election."
They stressed that Ukraine, inflation and other stressors meant they were unlikely to reveal a tax-slashing bonanza in March.
Appearing to swipe at his doomed predecessor Liz Truss, the PM said: “The worst thing I could do is promise you a bunch of things that sound great but ultimately just make the situation worse."
Mr Sunak also scrambled to defuse a Tory row after colleagues were left seething that their constituencies missed out on a £2billion levelling up pot.
MPs privately fumed, while Conservative West Midlands Mayor Andy Street broke cover to declare “Whitehall's bidding and begging bowl culture is broken”.
Downing Street faced criticism as parts of the rich South received far more than hard-up regions in the North.
Mr Sunak insisted that per capita, places like the North East and North West benefitted more.
He said: “I wish we could say yes to everybody. My life would be enormously easy if we could do that. But unfortunately we can’t.
“There’s always going to be people who feel upset about that. But what I would say is there is another round of this fund.”
Last night the Taxpayers' Alliance said "Rishi should commit to no more tax rises."
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Boss John O'Connell said: "Taxpayers will be rightly worried about further Tory tax hikes.
"More rate rises will only add to the damage of a record tax burden and persistent inflation."