A TOP Tory minister has described concerns over tax cuts benefitting the wealthy most as the "politics of envy".
Speaking to Times Radio on Saturday morning, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp dismissed criticism from across the political spectrum and economic think tanks, calling the cuts "the right thing" to do.
According to the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the only people who will have benefited from the mini-budget tax cuts in England in a couple of years’ time will be those who earn over £150,000.
The move came in a borrowing-heavy mini-budget which also removed the cap on bankers' bonuses and placed additional restrictions on the Universal Credit system.
But Philp told Times Radio: “The removal of the 45p tax band is only about 1/20 of the total fiscal package that was announced. And just because it creates sort of an attack point (for the) Labour Party … that’s not going to stop us doing the right thing.
“We’re going to do what’s right for the whole country. That means reducing taxes for everybody, low earners but also high earners.
“We’re going to do what’s right, we’re going to get growth delivered. And we’re not going to sort of worry about the politics of envy, or the optics of it.”
And despite the pound tumbling to the worst level in decades following the Chancellor's statement, Philp dismissed any risk posed by the unfunded tax cuts.
He said Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting programme is “not a gamble, it’s a necessity”.
“We can’t continue having high taxes, we can’t accept lower growth than we would like because the people in this country want higher wages," he told listeners.
“They want better standards of living, they want to see money invested in public services, they want to see investment, they want to see their children having a better future than they do.
“If we are going to deliver those aspirations, which we do want to do, the only way to do that is through a growth plan.
“So, it’s not a gamble, it’s a necessity.”
Elsewhere in the news on Saturday morning, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who will seek to capitalise on the unpopularity of the Government’s new measures at his party’s annual conference, tweeted: “Tory casino economics is gambling the mortgages and finances of every family in the country.”
His deputy Angela Rayner told BBC Breakfast: “We’ve seen trickle-down economics before. It doesn’t work. We don’t believe it’ll stimulate the economy. And, you know, I think it will make the next generation worse off.”
Rayner said it is the top 1% who will make the most significant gains from the tax cuts.
Reaction in the financial markets to the mini-budget was quick and punishing as the pound dived to fresh 37-year lows, making imports more expensive.
There was also criticism from Tory MPs, with Conservative former cabinet minister Julian Smith saying: “This huge tax cut for the very rich at a time of national crisis and real fear and anxiety amongst low-income workers and citizens is wrong.”
Kwarteng avoided the scrutiny of the independent financial analysts by describing the package as a “fiscal event” rather than a full budget.
