Tory hopefuls take aim at Sunak with pledges to slash tax

TORY leadership hopefuls yesterday came out swinging with promises to slash taxes – including the hated national insurance hike.

Former health secretary Sajid Javid said he would spike the 1.25 percentage point rise in NI rates for workers and businesses despite supporting it in government.

He said the current fiscal situation meant the country could afford to scrap the tax rise and still fund the promised boost for the NHS and social care.

Mr Javid said his tax-cutting plans would cost about £39billion per year.

He insisted he does not ‘believe in unfunded tax cuts’, adding: ‘I will be setting out in the next few days a scorecard which will show exactly how all of that we funded in a sustainable way.’

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss launched her leadership bid last night with a promise to spike the NI hike as part of her plan to return to ‘classic Conserva

‘We have to get the economy growing’

tive principles’. Fellow candidate Tom Tugendhat also pledged to reverse the hike but Jeremy Hunt – who put pressure on Boris Johnson to devise a social care plan – said he would not scrap the tax because ‘the NHS needs the money’.

‘I do want to bring down personal taxes but I think we have to be honest with people that we have to get the economy growing before we can afford to do that,’ Mr Hunt told LBC.

However, Mr Hunt and Mr Javid have both pledged to slash corporation tax as they announced separate leadership bids. The contenders’ timescales for the change are different, with Mr Hunt planning to cut the tax to 15p in his first autumn Budget, while Mr Javid would set a ‘glide path’.

Mr Tugendhat was asked whether he would consider cutting corporation tax as prime minister and told Sky’s Sophy Ridge that plans by his opponents to do so were ‘not realistic unless you have a ten-year economic plan’.

He added: ‘You can’t simply look at each of these taxes as a one-off, you need to look at it as part of a whole. The reality is this economy needs not only lower taxes for growth but it also needs sound money, and that is why we need to deliver both.’

Suella Braverman has promised ‘rapid and large tax cuts’ to ease inflation, while Grant Shapps has advocated lower taxes and a cut to red tape. The Transport Secretary told Sky he would introduce the planned 1p income tax cut ‘immediately’ in an emergency Budget.

Mr Javid has pledged to bring forward the planned 1p income tax cut to next year and introduce a further ‘significant’ temporary reduction on fuel duty.

In addition, Mr Shapps said he wants to ‘freeze’ the proposed increase in corporation tax, pledging: ‘That is a tax which will not go up.’

Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said last week that ‘everything is on the table’ when questioned over the tax rise.

But Rishi Sunak, who presided over a series of tax hikes as chancellor, used his campaign video to blast rivals for indulging in ‘comforting fairy tales’ while he pledged to ‘grip’ the moment and ‘make the right decisions’. He said: ‘Our country faces huge challenges, the most serious for a generation. And the decisions we make today will decide whether the next generation will also have the chance of a better future.

‘Do we confront this moment with honesty, seriousness and determination, or do we tell ourselves comforting fairy tales that might make us feel better in the moment but will leave our children worse off tomorrow?’