UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wants to cut the country’s tax burden, but can only do so once inflation is under control.
(Bloomberg) — UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wants to cut the country’s tax burden, but can only do so once inflation is under control.
“I want to cut your taxes,” Sunak said during a question-and-answer session with members of the press and public in Morecambe, northern England, where he announced a tranche of regional funding on Thursday. “I wish I could do that tomorrow.”
Sunak said his priority is to bring down inflation, which is currently at more than five times the Bank of England’s 2% target, and reduce the national debt. He blamed factors including the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine causing energy prices to spike for Britain’s current economic struggles.
Sunak Pledges to Cut Debt, Halve Inflation in Crisis-Hit UK
The prime minister is trying to burnish his credentials as a straight-talker by saying openly that he can’t do everything he’d like to do because of the current state of the economy.
Since becoming prime minister in October, his main task has been to clean up the economic damage wrought by the package of unfunded tax cuts announced by his predecessor, Liz Truss, during her 7 weeks in office. But that’s led to accusations from critics that he lacks a plan for growth and has no vision for Britain.
Levelling Up
“The worst thing I can do is promise you a bunch of things that sound great but ultimately just make the situation worse,” Sunak said. “It takes a bit of work to get there.”
Sunak also defended his government’s latest allocation of “levelling up” funds for regeneration and infrastructure projects, after the wealthiest region of London & the South East received more cash than some more depressed northern areas.
Approximately £360 million ($440 million) was awarded to the area out of the £2.1 billion of funding announced late Wednesday — compared to £120 million for Yorkshire & the Humber and £155 million for the West Midlands. Sunak said that, on a per-capita basis, North West England and the North East received the most.
“The funding that you’re all getting per person is twice per capita than what London and the South East is getting,” Sunak said to the Morecambe audience. “When we talk about delivering levelling up and spreading opportunity across the country, we really mean it.”
‘Hunger Games’
Sunak is trying to make good on former Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s electoral promise in 2019 to revitalize left-behind parts of Britain. However, since then, the data suggests the UK’s prosperity gap has widened, according to Bloomberg’s Levelling Up Scorecard.
The latest round of levelling up funding was expected to be announced in October last year, but was delayed amid the leadership upheaval in the Conservatives.
The opposition Labour Party said the levelling up funds don’t compensate for cuts in public spending by successive Tory governments since 2010, and that unsuccessful councils had lost money putting together costly bids for funding which were rejected.
“It takes an extraordinary arrogance to expect us to be grateful for a partial refund on the money they have stripped out of our communities, which has decimated vital local services like childcare, buses and social care,” shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy said in a statement. “It is time to end this Hunger Games-style contest where communities are pitted against one another and Whitehall ministers pick winners and losers.”
–With assistance from Kitty Donaldson.
(Updates with comments on levelling up funding starting in seventh paragraph.)
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