Truss would axe Sunak’s National Insurance raid
People up and down our country are feeling the squeeze and they want a prime minister with a clear plan to help them put money back in their pockets. Inflation caused by the after-shock of Covid and Vladimir Putin’s appalling war is taking its toll. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, I have been frustrated that we have not yet been able to cut taxes quickly enough to support working people. To do this, we will need real discipline.
Now is the time for the Conservatives to show decisive leadership. We need to build on Boris Johnson’s achievements with a leader who has a clear and traditionally Conservative vision for where the United Kingdom should be, and the drive to get us there.
To me, there is only one person who can do this: Liz Truss. Under her strong leadership, she will unite the party behind a clear Conservative agenda, which would turn the British economy into a high-growth, highlyproductive powerhouse.
Liz would drive forward a fundamentally Conservative agenda to deliver this through low taxes, supply-side reform and going for growth. She has the toughness and experience to succeed, as shown by her record of getting things done in five departments across Whitehall.
We are currently on course for the heaviest tax burden since the Forties. Yet people know what to do with their own money better than any government. Liz understands this, which is why she would move swiftly to simplify and cut taxes in order to put more money back in their pockets and ease the cost of living. She would reverse the National Insurance rise, returning to the Conservatives’ manifesto commitments and incentivising job creation.
In these tough times, it is vital to control public spending. At the Treasury, Liz had a firm grip on the finances and made tough decisions, which were firm but fair. She would do the same as the First Lord of the Treasury through fiscally prudent borrowing and reforming unaffordable spending commitments. There would be a new spending review.
We cannot allow our wealth creators, namely hard-working people and dynamic businesses across the country, to be weighed down by
‘Liz has shown her resolve in her approach to solving the Northern Ireland Protocol’
onerous bureaucracy. That is why Liz would overhaul business regulation and help families by reforming senseless red tape around childcare.
We need to keep levelling up our country by securing jobs in the industries of the future for every region and nation. Liz knows the way to do this is by being open to opportunity and investment. She has demonstrated that as Foreign Secretary in her pursuit of closer economic ties around the world. As Trade Secretary, she struck dozens of new trade deals with friends such as Australia and Japan. She helped land big deals like Nissan’s £1billion expansion in Sunderland, and brought together the world’s leading investors at a special summit where they agreed to make £10billion in investment, creating at least 30,000 new jobs in the industries of the future. We need to make the most of our new-found freedoms outside the European Union. Liz has shown her resolve in her approach to solving the Northern Ireland Protocol.
She would drive forward regulatory divergence from the EU, expand freeports and deepen our trade ties across the world to unleash our economy’s full potential.
Ultimately, we must get on with delivering on our promises to the British people. The next prime minister has to be determined to see spades in the ground, more investment flowing into local areas and more jobs in cutting-edge industries.
I believe Liz has the clarity of purpose and drive we need in our next prime minister. Under her leadership, we will unite in delivering for people across our great country.