Chancellor: ‘I’m Scrooge who will save Christmas’

Jeremy Hunt has declared he is Scrooge out to save Christmas as he warned of “horrible decisions” before his budget on Thursday.

The Chancellor warned of big moves on tax and said they are necessary to curb inflation and restore stability to shorten a recession “made in Russia”.

He promised a “rabbit-free budget” and said people with the broadest shoulders will bear the brunt of rising costs to help balance the books as sources suggest highest-earners will be asked to pay more tax.

Insisting that voters want the Tories to be trustworthy rather than “popular”, he said the plan in the week ahead is to deliver “certainty” to families and businesses that the government has a plan to restore stability to the economy.

“That will be job done, as far as Thursday is concerned,” he said, adding that he will not be pulling any rabbits out of the hat when he delivers his crucial autumn statement this week, unlike his predecessor – who dramatically announced a cut to the top

rate of income tax in his ill-fated “fiscal event”.

“I think it is fair to say this is going to be the first rabbit-free budget for very many years,” the Chancellor said. “I’m sorry to disappoint but no, this is not going to be a time for rabbits I’m afraid.”

He warned people can expect some “very horrible decisions” as part of a bid to “get us back into the place where we are the fantastic country that we all want to be. I’m Scrooge who’s going to do things that make sure Christmas is never cancelled,” he said.

Hunt said he is expecting the country to enter an official recession after GDP shrank by 0.2% between July and September.

“The question is not really whether we’re in recession, but what we can

do to make it shorter and shallower,” he said.

He insisted the “number one thing” he can do on Thursday is help tackle sky-high inflation.

“If we can, with the Bank of England, control inflation, then we will be able to contain the global rise in interest rates, contain the rises in mortgage rates that people are seeing, contain the cost of loans that businesses borrow, and have a chance of getting back on track,” he said.

“But that stability is what has been missing – mainly thanks to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”