Truss allies call for doubling of income tax threshold
ALLIES of Liz Truss have urged Rishi Sunak to adopt major income tax cuts suggested to him by Dominic Cummings.
Senior Tories who back Ms Truss’s economic agenda called on the Government to help the “squeezed middle” by almost doubling the threshold at which people pay the 40 per cent rate of income tax.
Their remarks come after it emerged that Mr Sunak held two secret meetings with Mr Cummings in Dec 2022 and July 2023 in an attempt to revive his fortunes.
The controversial political strategist used the talks to tell the Prime Minister to reverse tax rises introduced by Boris Johnson, his former boss, and raise the 40p income tax threshold from £50,271 to £100,000, The Sunday Times reported.
Mr Sunak used his new year message to promise further tax cuts this year after he cut employee National Insurance by 2 per cent at the Autumn Statement, which will take effect on Saturday.
Ranil Jayawardena, the chairman of the low-tax Conservative Growth Group caucus of 55 MPS, told The Daily Telegraph: “The Conservatives have helped the lowest paid by taking them out of tax altogether and cutting National Insurance too.
“So it is right that we now help the squeezed middle – the police sergeants, experienced schoolteachers and junior doctors – who shouldn’t be paying 40 per cent tax by lifting that threshold.”
Kwasi Kwarteng, who was Ms Truss’s chancellor, described the proposals suggested by Mr Cummings as “sensible” but warned: “The officials at the Treasury will resist it.”
The suggestion from Mr Cummings was also backed by David Jones, a former cabinet minister, and Sir Alec Shelbrooke, a longstanding ally of Ms Truss who was knighted last week in her resignation honours list.
Ms Truss, who with Mr Kwarteng unveiled a number of sweeping tax cuts during her short-lived premiership, has called for 2024 to be “the year of the conservative fightback for freedom, sovereignty and self-determination”.