UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt prioritises stability over tax cuts

FT says Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s chancellor, has issued a message to small-state Tory MPs that they will have to wait for tax cuts, telling a business audience that “the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation”.

Hunt, who was appointed after the debacle of the autumn Budget — which caused turmoil in financial markets — has been under pressure from backbenchers to cut taxes, despite the UK’s precarious public finances in the wake of the Covid crisis.

He said that in the long run “we need lower taxes”, adding that this would mean spending restraint by the government.

But the chancellor said his priority for now was stability. “Risk-taking individuals and businesses can only happen when governments provide economic and financial stability,” he said in a speech at Bloomberg in the City of London. “So the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation.”

https://www.ft.com/content/a0b7e0cd-6351-4438-a891-bd6771145b0f