BBC Breakfast: Jeremy Hunt challenged over tax bill concerns
What a difference a year makes. This time 12 months ago Liz Truss’s government had plunged into a death spiral which ended it after 49 days after support for her tax-cutting mini budget collapsed.
Today hundreds of Conservative activists queued for hours to get into the former Prime Minister’s “rally for growth” as her push for Rishi Sunak’s government to accept tax cuts gathered momentum.
More than that, the woman who was so derided for allegedly crashing the economy (a claim which has been exaggerated to cover the failures of others), is now actually beginning to win over the public according to new polling analysis.
According to Redfield and Wilton, the public now backs four out of six of Ms Truss’s mini-budget proposals by a clear majority.
The findings fuel the major push at this year’s party conference to reverse the Rishi Sunak/ Jeremy Hunt economic plan and start to cut taxes.
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive the latest politics news and analysis
READ MORE: Liz Truss piles pressure on Rishi Sunak and demands he ‘axe the tax’
As well as Ms Truss’s “axe the tax” intervention, we have seen Dame Priti Patel, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and others touring the conference fringe telling cheering crowds that the party needs to cut taxes and incentivise growth.
Former chairman Sir Jake Berry even implied at the “rally for the manifesto” that the 33 MPs who have signed a tax pledge would be willing to bring Mr Sunak’s government down on the issue if necessary.
They all have a view that the Conservative Party needs to be conservative again and that the 37 percent tax ratio to GDP is far too high.
The respondents to Redfield and Wilton seem to agree.
Her plan to cut the basic rate of income tax by 1p is supported by 60 percent to 14 percent oppose.
Don’t miss…
Rebels threaten to block Hunt’s tax rises in new five-point election ultimatum[REVEAL]
Top Tories hit back at Brexit doom-mongers as new figures ‘silence’ critics[REACT]
Nigel Farage gets inside a Tory party conference for first time since 1980s[INSIGHT]
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Scrapping Mr Sunak’s National Insurance hike gets backing of 58 percent to 16 percent oppose.
Eliminating stamp duty on properties up to £250,000 is backed by 56 percent to 15 percent oppose.
Where there is still scepticism are on the help for the wealthy with 44 percent opposing ending the top 45p rate of tax to 32 percent support.
The removal of the cap on company bonuses was particularly disliked by 57 percent to 18 percent even though it had no real effect on tax take or the budget.
Even these last two points, supporters of Ms Truss now feel would have received wider support had they not been rushed and better explained.
As one Tory MP noted this week: “Essentially, she (Truss) did not explain people are leaving the country because of high tax. We are only third behind China and India for the number of millionaires choosing to go elsewhere.
“If the message had been cutting 45p brings more money for the government then it may have been a different story.”
It is clear where the momentum lies within the Conservative Party and that is to tax cuts.
MPs are demanding it, members are demanding it and it seems the public want it.
If Mr Sunak is to overturn the Labour poll lead – still at 18 points according to Techne UK – then he needs to do things differently.
Central to Truss’s argument last year and at this conference is that the true Tory identity has long been the party of low tax and it may be time for Sunak to finally embrace that.
As Ms Truss said: “It’s time for the Conservative Party to be conservative again.”
Source: Read Full Article