‘Wounded’ PM in ‘cut costs’ pledge
BORIS Johnson has promised to cut taxes and drive down the cost of government after a wounding revolt by Tory MPS put his longterm future in doubt.
The Prime Minister thanked Cabinet colleagues for their efforts to support him during the confidence vote process, which saw more than four in 10 Tory MPS say they had lost faith in his leadership.
In an attempt to address criticism of his economic policies, Mr Johnson said the “fundamental Conservative instinct” was to allow people to decide how to spend their money, urging Cabinet ministers to cut costs.
He said “delivering tax cuts” would help deliver “considerable growth in employment and economic progress”.
Despite Mr Johnson’s attempts to draw a line under questions about his leadership, critics warned that the political crisis was not over after 41% of his MPS said they no longer had confidence in him.
Tory MPS voted by 211 to 148 in support of the Prime Minister, but the scale of opposition was greater than that seen in 2018 when Theresa May faced a confidence vote. She was ultimately forced out within months.
Opening a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: “We are able now to draw a line under the issues that our opponents want to talk about.”
That included focusing on his “levelling up” agenda to address regional inequality, measures to help deal with the rising cost of living and improvements to public services.
But he asked ministers to “make sure that you’re thinking the whole time about cutting the costs of government, about cutting the costs that business has to face and of course cutting the costs that everybody else faces, families up and down the country”.
Reforms to regulations could help cut costs in areas such as energy, transport or housing, Mr Johnson said, telling ministers “there is ample scope for us to get out of people’s way and to do things better”.
He told ministers: “Over the course of the next few weeks, I’m going to ask everybody to come forward with ways in which we cut costs, drive reform, and make sure that we understand that in the end it is people who have the best feel for how to spend their own money rather than the government or the state. And that is our fundamental, Conservative instinct.”
Allies have rallied round Mr Johnson, but former Tory leader Lord Hague said “the damage done to his premiership is severe” and he should quit rather than prolong the agony.
Mr Johnson’s authority faces further blows with tricky by-elections on June 23 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and Tiverton and Honiton in Devon.
But Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab sought to play down the impact of potential losses in the two Tory-held seats.
However, former Brexit minister Lord Frost called for previously announced rises to National Insurance and corporation tax to be reversed. “It is not Conservative to be raising taxes,’’ he told BBC Radio 4.