Taxcutsmistake

As the Conservative Party leadership hopefuls engage in a grotesque bunfight out to see who can offer the highest tax cuts, it was pleasing to note the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warn that this would be a mistake.The IMF is among the groups predicting the UK could see the slowest growth and most painful inflation of any G7 nation in 2023 thanks, in part, to reliance on fossil fuels, a big driver of inflation.

In comparison, the poorest households in France are now

25 per cent better off than their UK counterparts, with the latter experiencing widening inequalities, meaning that UK households have been left less resilient to cope with the current cost of living shock.

The UK’s challenges are very deeprooted, with economic growth lagging behind many competitors since the 2007 financial crisis. Our longerterm underperformance reflects a chronic lack of investment in skills and infrastructure and as a consequence we’re a low wage, low productivity, low growth economy, fraught with political infighting.

Private sector investment has also languished and post the 2016 EU referendum business investment fell dramatically. It remains 10 per cent below the 2015 peak, leading to a less efficient economy - and so poor wage growth.

Taxation would be better channelled into projects that focus on sustained long-term economic prosperity, rather than fighting over who can lower these the furthest.

Whoever moves into Number 10, we are at a crossroads as to how the UK’s future is shaped.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh