Prime Minister resists calls to announce pre-election tax giveaway to boost Tory hopes
Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from his own MPs not to raise taxes
Last updated 1st Oct 2023
Conservatives are putting pressure on Rishi Sunak to cut taxes, with members of his own Cabinet publicly calling for pre-election giveaways.
The Prime Minister resisted demands to lower the tax burdens as the Tories gather in Manchester today for the party's conference.
He insisted he is right to prioritise measures to cut inflation instead.
However, the Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said he wants cuts announced before the election to ease the tax burden on working households.
Mr Gove told Sunday Morning With Trever Phillips on Sky News: "Of course it is the case that taxes are higher than we would want them to be. That is a fact.
"It's one that I believe is due principally to the pandemic but also to an extent to the war in Ukraine.
"I would like to see the tax burden reduced before the next election."
There is likely to be a Budget before the next election which is expected to be held in 2024. despite Jeremy Hunt playing down the idea of tax cuts in November's Autumn Statement,
The government have been told by Mr Gove that they should focussing on cutting work taxes, such as income tax or national insurance.
He said: "We should incentivise people to work harder, we should make sure they are better rewarded for the enterprise, the effort, the endeavour that they put in."
Mr Sunak refused to give the commitment to a pre-election tax cut sought by Mr Gove.
He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: "The best tax cut we can give people is to halve inflation."
He said that as a Conservative, "I want to cut taxes", but he defended his prioritisation of inflation-reducing measures.
"Change may be difficult, but I believe the country wants change and I'm going to do things differently to bring about that change," he said.
"You saw that last summer (during the Conservative leadership contest) when it came to this question, I said the most important priority we faced was to bring inflation down.
"It's inflation that's putting the prices of things up, inflation that's making people feel poorer, the quicker we bring inflation down, the better it is, and that's why it's the right priority, and we are making good progress."
Another big topic during today's conference is the future on HS2, as Sunak is still yet to announce whether the line will reach Manchester.
He has insisted the UK is not a "laughing stock" as he failed to comment on the high-speed rail project and denied the allegations from critics.
Amongst those urging the PM not to ditch the Birmingham to Manchester line is the former premier Theresa May.
However the Prime Minister has refused to make clear what his plans are, instead relying on his get-out of not commenting on "speculation".
He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: "I'd completely reject that."