A minister raised hopes on Friday of tax cuts possibly as early as next year after inflation is brought more under control.
Andrew Griffith, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, stressed the Government’s priority “right now” was halving inflation, to around five per cent by the end of the year.
Given the Covid pandemic and Ukraine war sending inflation skyrocketing, ministers had had to make tough choices to stabilise the economy, he added, including “not being able in the very short term to make tax cuts”.
Mr Griffith emphasised that economic experts believe the Government is on track to achieve its inflation target by the end of the year.
Beyond that, in 2024, people would have “a big choice” about who governs Britain, he added, stressing that the Conservatives “believe in people keeping more of what they earn and having a productive economy by overtime reducing the tax burden”.
In contrast, Labour said it would like to make tax cuts “in the medium term” - so a dividing line may be emerging between the two main parties over what they would offer voters on tax at the next General Election, expected in 2024.
Mr Griffith’s comments came as the Government received some good news that the UK economy grew faster that expected between January and March this year.
The Office for National Statistics said that it now thinks that gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year, up from the 0.1 per cent previously estimated.
Separately, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the current Parliament will have presided over the biggest set of tax rises since at least the Second World War.
The leading economists stressed that by the time of the next general election, taxes will likely have risen to around 37 per cent of national income.
The widely-respected think tank said that the spike was equivalent to around £3,500 more per household, even if in reality it will not be shared equally.
Since comparable records began in the 1950s, no Parliament has seen a bigger increase in taxes.
Some Tory MPs are unhappy about the stance of Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on not signalling tax cuts, even though they have stabilised the economy after the brief, chaotic Liz Truss administration.
But Mr Griffifth’s words dangled the prospect of tax cuts beyond the “very short term”.
He told Sky News: “We are very, very clear about our priority right now.
“Right now that priority is bearing down on inflation, cost of living, allowing household budgets to go further because they are not seeing that steady increase in prices.
“That plan is working.
“We have got to stick with that.
“We have got to push that across the finishing line. The objective was to halve inflation by the end of this year and the latest forecasts from the Bank of England confirm that we are on track to do that.
“There can be no respite, we need to be focused on that first.
“Beyond that, and your viewers will have a big choice to make in 2024 about the nature of the Government that they want to see, beyond that as a Conservative and my fellow Conservatives believe in people keeping more of what they earn and having a productive economy by overtime reducing the tax burden.”
Speaking later on GB News he told of the difficult choices the Government has had to make given the recent economic shocks.
“One of those tough choices is not being able in the very short term to make tax cuts,” he said.
Shadow Treasury minister Darren Jones said Labour would like to reduce taxes “in the medium term” but would have to “fix the country first” given the state of the public finances.
