Hunting to claim only the Tories will cut the UK’s tax burden after the election

Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, FT Editor, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Jeremy Hunt will on Friday defend the Conservative Party’s massive tax hikes in this parliament, but insist that only his party will cut the tax burden if it wins the next general election.

The Prime Minister will argue that the Conservative Party’s promise to cut taxes will be the major election winner, even though the overall tax burden has risen to a post-war high under his party.

“Labour wants to criticize tax rises in this parliament thinking people don’t know why they are raising taxes – the furlough scheme, the energy price guarantee and billions of pounds in cost of living support,” Hunt will say.

Hunt’s speech in central London comes ahead of the release of official inflation data next week which the prime minister hopes will show inflation falling below the Bank of England’s 2% target.

He sees this as an important time for the economy. The Conservative Party is trailing the Labor Party 20 percentage points in the polls and yes Worse ratings more economically than Sir Keir Starmer’s party.

Hunt’s speech marks the opening clash between the two main parties over the economy ahead of elections scheduled for this fall. On Thursday, Labor said creating “economic stability” would be a top priority if it wins.

The Prime Minister will claim Labor’s attacks on his party’s record of tax increases are “political playground”, noting that Starmer’s party has backed policies that have helped the UK overcome a series of economic shock.

Despite recent cuts to national insurance, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said “this is still a record tax rise in parliament”.

Meanwhile, Hunt on Thursday convened technology groups and regulators to identify ways to make the country more attractive to the high-growth industry.

He held a summit at his grace-filled Dorneywood estate in Buckinghamshire to take the views of chief executives on what the government could do to retain public sector groups. technology in the UK and help them grow.

One person at the summit said it was “very positive” and several said they were planning an initial public offering in London.

However, the Ministry of Finance declined to say how many companies attended the event or to provide names.

Several major companies — including Revolut, Klarna, Checkout.com and ClearScore — did not attend. The CEO of a major technology corporation said he did not know the Dorneywood summit would be held.

Industry figures in attendance included Monzo boss TS Anil and Eben Upton, chief executive of Raspberry Pi, the computer maker that is hoping to reopen the IPO market in London.

The Cambridge-based company said Wednesday that it would search for a list on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. It was valued at $597 million in November.

The Treasury said the summit “focuses on the offer the UK has for innovative companies looking to raise capital in the UK”.

One person at the meeting said tech bosses had challenged Nikhil Rathi, boss of the Financial Conduct Authority, to provide “clarity and certainty” on future regulation and take a new approach. more “pro-growth” approach.

The UK has a track record of growing more startups than other European countries but Hunt is trying to amend London’s stock market rules to encourage more companies to grow and list in the country.

He said this week that he believed the reforms could help create a “British Microsoft” worth 1 trillion USD.