Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ‘warns Tories he cannot make huge tax cuts they need’

Jeremy Hunt has reportedly warned prime Tories that long-trailed tax cuts within the Budget are more likely to be smaller than anticipated.

The Chancellor is drawing up plans for the Budget in March, which is being seen as a last-chance second to revive dire Conservative fortunes earlier than the subsequent election. Mr Hunt has been hinting closely that he want to slash taxes additional after slicing National Insurance within the final Autumn Statement.

But he informed Cabinet on Tuesday there was more likely to be much less headroom for tax cuts than within the Autumn, in response to The Times. He blamed comparatively low ranges of ­productiveness in Britain, which he described as “our main structural ­weak spot”. “We are not likely to have as much room for tax cuts as we had in the Autumn,” he said.

It comes after the International Monetary Fund warned the Tories that any further tax cuts would damage the Government’s ability to invest in public services like the NHS. In another blow, the international body also downgraded its growth forecasts for the UK economy to 0.06%. It made the UK the second worst performing economy in the G7.

IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said: “We would rather they [the UK Government] not do this type of tax cuts.” He said ministers “might think of spending on healthcare and modernising the NHS; spending on social care; on education; you might think about critical public investment to address the climate transition; but also to boost growth.”

Responding to the verdict yesterday, Mr Hunt said: “The IMF count on progress to strengthen over the subsequent few years, supported by our introduction of the most important capital funding tax reliefs wherever on this planet, alongside National Insurance cuts to enhance work incentives. It is simply too early to know whether or not additional reductions in tax might be inexpensive within the Budget, however we proceed to consider that good tax reductions could make a giant distinction in boosting progress.”

Economists say the very fact the Government borrowed lower than anticipated in December would possibly give Mr Hunt the room to chop taxes additional within the Budget on March 6. Cuts to National Insurance and earnings tax are among the many choices on the desk.

But Office for National Statistics figures in December confirmed debt ranges are greater than they’ve been for the reason that Sixties in comparison with the scale of the economic system.

Health minister Dame Andrea Leadsom informed LBC: “I am a big fan of tax cuts but obviously I am not the Chancellor and cannot predict what steps he will be taking at the spring statement, which is quite soon now. But he will be looking to enable people to keep more of their hard earned cash if he possibly can.”