Sunak promises tax cuts in leadership campaign launch as support for Truss grows

12 July 2022, 00:46 | Updated: 12 July 2022, 10:21

Liz Truss is one of many candidates who have promised tax cuts to tackle the cost of living - but Rishi Sunak has said they must wait until after inflation has fallen
Liz Truss is one of many candidates who have promised tax cuts to tackle the cost of living - but Rishi Sunak has said they must wait until after inflation has fallen. Picture: Getty

By Daisy Stephens

Rishi Sunak will pledge to cut taxes as soon as he can as Liz Truss and her low-tax promises gain increasing support.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The former Chancellor will formally begin his campaign to become the next prime minister at a launch event on Tuesday, at which he will promise to cut taxes once inflation has been brought back under control.

He will insist he has a plan to deal with the economic "headwinds" the country is facing, saying it is a matter of "when" not "if" the tax burden starts to fall.

Read more: Mo Farah: I was trafficked to UK under fake name as a child and forced to be a servant

Read more: Tory timetable for new PM announced: Contenders to need backing of at least 20 colleagues

Mr Sunak is alone among the contenders to succeed Boris Johnson in not promising immediate tax cuts if he wins the race to become Tory leader.

He has come under attack from allies of the Prime Minister who believe his announcement last week that he was quitting helped trigger the slew of resignations which forced Mr Johnson to admit his time was up.

But in his address, Mr Sunak will seek to make a virtue of his willingness to confront difficult economic realities.

Liz Truss is one of many leadership hopefuls to promise tax cuts
Liz Truss is one of many leadership hopefuls to promise tax cuts. Picture: Getty

"We need a return to traditional Conservative economic values - and that means honesty and responsibility, not fairy tales," he will say.

"I have had to make some of the most difficult choices in my life when I was chancellor, in particular how to deal with our debt and borrowing after Covid.

"I have never hidden away from those, and I certainly won't pretend now that the choices I made, and the things I voted for, were somehow not necessary. Whilst this may be politically inconvenient, it is the truth.

"My message to the party and the country is simple: I have a plan to steer our country through these headwinds. Once we have gripped inflation, I will get the tax burden down. It is a question of 'when', not 'if'."

'What about offering tax cuts simply by borrowing more?'

Mr Sunak will receive heavyweight support from another ex-chancellor, Lord Lamont, who said he had the courage to take the "tough decisions" needed to deal the "extremely serious" economic situation.

Ahead of the launch event in central London, Lord Lamont said: "The country faces an extremely serious economic situation.

Read more: Rwanda plan should be 'done properly', says Grant Shapps

Read more: Police should have phones randomly checked to tackle misogyny, says former Met boss

"To weather the storm requires a high degree of competence, matched by the courage to make really tough decisions. The public understand this better than many politicians and will respond.

"Tax cuts unmatched by spending cuts achieve nothing. Yes, the tax burden needs to be reduced, as Rishi also believes, but only as and when the public finances allow.

"Mrs Thatcher often said dealing with the deficit comes even before reducing taxes. Deficits are just delayed taxation.

"Rishi has the skill, determination and ideas to get us through this difficult period into more prosperous times."

Mr Sunak will say he has a "plan to steer our country through these headwinds"
Mr Sunak will say he has a "plan to steer our country through these headwinds". Picture: Getty

Mr Sunak is one of 11 Tory MPs standing to be the next leader of the Conservative party, and therefore the next Prime Minister.

There is growing speculation Liz Truss could be a serious contender of his.

The Telegraph reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries - two of Boris Johnson's closest allies - are set to announce their support for Ms Truss.

Both have heavily criticised Mr Sunak, with Mr Rees-Mogg describing him scathingly as the "much-lamented socialist chancellor" who had put up taxes while failing to curb inflation.

The Times reports education secretary James Cleverly is also set to declare his support for Ms Truss.

Read more: 'Danger to life' heat warning issued as Brits face '33C' temperatures and fires break out

Read more: Ava White's family 'ripped apart' by her murder as boy given life sentence, mother says

Another leadership hopeful, Tom Tugendhat, is also launching his campaign on Tuesday.

He is one of many candidates promising immediate tax cuts but will also use his speech to announce a 10-year growth plan, saying slashing taxes cannot be the "only round in the magazine".

The UK is facing a worsening cost of living crisis, not helped by the high tax burden
The UK is facing a worsening cost of living crisis, not helped by the high tax burden. Picture: Getty

Nominations for the election open and close on Tuesday, with candidates requiring the support of 20 fellow MPs to make it onto the ballot - a hurdle some of the 11 hoping to stand may struggle to overcome.

Mr Sunak has the most declarations of support so far.

Under the timetable set out by Sir Graham Brady, the first ballot of MPs will take place on Wednesday, with candidates failing to get 30 votes being eliminated, with a second expected on Thursday.

Read more: More travel chaos expected as train drivers vote to strike over pay dispute

Read more: Tory MPs are 'dividing themselves into gangs and hunting each other', says Andrew Marr

The process is then likely to continue into next week, with candidate with the lowest vote dropping out, until the list of candidates is whittled down to just two who will go forward into a ballot of party members.

The new prime minister will be announced on September 5 when MPs return to Westminster from their summer break.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Exclusive
Anneliese Dodds said Labour would make sure local people have 'skin in the game' with tackling inequality

'Rebuild has to start from ground up,' Labour's Anneliese Dodds says, and 'local people must have skin in the game'

Mohamed Mansour has been awarded a knighthood

Conservatives accused of 'cronyism' after donor who gave £5 million awarded knighthood in surprise honours list

Exclusive
Justin Welby recalled his experience of coping with his father's drinking as a teenager.

‘It was utterly isolating’: Archbishop of Canterbury recalls harrowing experience of growing up with his alcoholic father

More than 2 million drivers are set to hit the road on Good Friday.

Easter Carmageddon: Over two million drivers to hit the road on Good Friday after Storm Nelson travel chaos

Michael Gove has slammed the water firm as a 'disgrace'.

Thames Water bosses branded a ‘disgrace’ as Michael Gove tells firm ‘not to punish consumers’ for its failings

South Africa Bus Crash

Girl, 8, the sole survivor as 45 die in bus crash off South Africa bridge

A spokesman has denied reports the sausage dog could be banned.

The wurst news is over: Germany denies claims of sausage dog ban

Israel Palestinians Britain Aid

UN top court orders Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza

Greece Confidence Vote

Greece’s government survives no-confidence motion called over rail disaster

A council has had to apologise following the incident.

Fury as parents offered version of school class photo without complex needs pupils

Conjoined twin who shot to fame with sister on The Oprah Winfrey Show marries army veteran in private ceremony

Conjoined twin who shot to fame with sister on The Oprah Winfrey Show marries army veteran in private ceremony

Israel Palestinians UN Security Council

Russia ‘abolishes’ monitoring of sanctions on North Korea with UN veto

Firefighters at the scene of a bus crash in Limpopo

Bus falls from bridge in South Africa and erupts into flames, killing at least 45 and leaving child, 8, as lone survivor

Music-Green Day UN

Green Day to headline UN-backed global climate concert

Exclusive
Starmer has vowed to resurrect Boris Johnson's 'Levelling Up' policy

Failure to ‘level up’ Britain would be ‘catastrophic’, Wes Streeting admits, as Starmer vows to resurrect Johnson policy

Border Force staff will walk out from April 11

Hundreds of Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport to stage four-day strike