Truss loyalist Clarke bemoans Sunak tax rises

THE Government should have used the Autumn Statement to make more spending cuts rather than raise tax, a former minister and ally of Liz Truss has said in a speech from the backbenches.

Simon Clarke, who was Ms Truss’s levelling up secretary in her brief premiership, said ministers “cannot ignore” that the tax burden is at its highest level since the Second World War.

His Commons intervention during the debate on last week’s statement reflects concern among some senior Tories. He told fellow MPS: “There are simply no easy choices ... but faced with the available options I would have preferred to see a much greater emphasis on spending reductions.”

Mr Clarke said he would not have increased benefits in line with inflation and said there was a “very strong need” to drive savings in the NHS.