Jeremy Hunt pledges to ‘make a start’ on bringing down tax burden
The cost of pandemic spending and support during the energy crisis pushed taxes so high that they cannot be brought down “in one go,” Jeremy Hunt has suggested.
The Chancellor said it was not possible to bring the tax burden to “pre-pandemic” levels quickly but he would “make a start”.
Speaking on ITV’s The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, he said he and Rishi Sunak wanted more tax cuts “when it is affordable”.
Millions of workers will see a cut to their national insurance (NI) contributions this month, but still face paying higher income tax later in the year due to frozen thresholds.
“After a period in which taxes have gone up in order to pay for the costs of the pandemic or the £3,500 of help we gave in the cost of living crisis to a typical family, we now want to bring that tax burden back down.”
Mr Hunt said: “We can’t get all the way back to where we were pre pandemic in one go, but
we can make a start.”
He said the NI cut would amount to just under £1,000 for a typical family, adding: “But we would like to go further as and when it’s affordable and responsible to do so.”
The Chancellor also said he “did not understand” recent comments by the chairman of NatWest bank, Sir Howard Davies, who suggested that it was not hard to buy a home.
Sir Howard has since said he meant it was easier to get a mortgage than it had been but he was acccused of being out of touch.
Jeremy Hunt said he was “bitterly disappointed” after a Court of Appeal ruling gave the green light to a gas drilling project in his South West Surrey constituency.
Exploration at Dunsfold has faced strong opposition from the local Conservative council and
community groups.
When he was a backbench MP in 2022, Mr Hunt (inset) condemned the Government’s decision to overrule the council and permit gas drilling.
He said last night: “I am bitterly disappointed to learn that the Court of Appeal has refused permission for any appeal against the planning consent for the Loxley gas well.”
The proposed site is in an Area of Great Landscape Value and sits on the border of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesman Tim Farron called it a “shameful outcome”
“I think people are finding it very difficult and we are seeing that in the volume of house transactions that are
happening,” Mr Hunt said.
He was also challenged on the carer’s allowance of £76.75 per week, which campaigners say is not enough to support those who cannot work due to caring duties.
Asked if the figure was enough, Mr Hunt said benefits were being kept
“under review” and argued it was “never meant to be income replacement” but “support for people doing
caring duties”
