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

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

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

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.

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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.

"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.

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"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 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.

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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".

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.

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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.