Raab pledges a ‘penny a year’ cut in income tax

THE basic rate of income tax should be slashed by 5p to make it the lowest in modern history, Tory leadership hopeful Dominic Raab said last night.

The former Brexit secretary, 45, said such a move would ‘give working Britain a fairer deal’ and ‘reinvigorate social mobility’.

He said: ‘We should cut the basic rate of income tax by a penny each year – as Nigel Lawson did in the eighties. We, as the Conservatives, are defending the enterprise economy and lower and middle-income, aspirational working Britain.’

He made the comments as he went headto-head with contenders to succeed Theresa May in a debate on the future of the Conservative Party.

Under his plan, the basic rate of income tax would be cut from 20p to 15p over the course of a five-year Parliament.

Workers on the median full-time salary of £29,600 would save £854 a year. Those on £50,000 a year would save around £2,000 in tax. Mr Raab, who declined to answer whether he would run for leader, also suggested the National Insurance employee contribution threshold should be raised to £12,500 in line with the personal allowance for income tax.

This would save the average full-time worker a further £462. Speaking at the Future of the Party event in central London, he warned the result of the European elections on Thursday would be ‘only a hint of what’s to come if we don’t understand what happens if you don’t keep your promises’.

Mr Raab was joined on the panel by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss, Brexit minister James Cleverly and Home Office minister Victoria Atkins.

Mr Raab is considered to be the main Eurosceptic challenger to Boris Johnson.