Boris Johnson has thrown his weight behind calls for tax cuts to kickstart growth and boost the Tories’ chances of winning the next general election. The former prime minister said he had “no doubt” the Government would start to get the tax burden down “when the time comes” and would reap the reward at the ballot box.
Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have been resisting demands from some Tory MPs to cut taxes in next month’s Budget, insisting they have to get inflation down first. While Mr Johnson did not directly criticise the Government’s position, his comments – in an interview with former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries for TalkTV – are likely to encourage Conservatives impatient for taxes to come down.
“The fiscal position was pretty robust when I left office, we had scope to do all sorts of things and we were going to do them and I have no doubt that when the time comes, the Government will make sure that they start to reduce the tax burden and get the economy growing again and that is what needs to happen,” Mr Johnson said.
“We need to be on the front foot out there talking about the benefits of Brexit, not being shy about it, not being bashful and getting some growth back into the economy.”
Despite the Conservatives trailing Labour by some 20 points in the opinion polls, Mr Johnson insisted they could recover in time to triumph in the next election – probably little more than a year away. “The economy will start to improve, inflation will come down, people will reward the Conservative Party, they will reward the Government for being sensible, for cutting their taxes and for getting things done that they need done,” he said.
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