Rishi Sunak faces MP backlash at Tory party conference tax cut failure

Rishi Sunak faces MP backlash at Tory party conference over failure to promise tax cuts

•  Chancellor Jeremy Hunt played down the prospect of tax cuts last week

Rishi Sunak is facing an ambush from MPs at the Tory conference over his failure to promise pre-election tax cuts.

A group is planning to seize on last week’s figures showing a drop in Government borrowing of £11billion by calling for an easing of the tax burden for families and businesses, which stands at a 70-year high.

The growing disquiet among the Right of the party has been accentuated by its stubborn failure to eat into Labour’s opinion poll lead, with little over a year until the expected date of the election.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt played down the prospect of tax cuts last week, insisting it was ‘vital that we don’t alter our course and continue to act responsibly with the public finances’.

No10 is closely watching Cabinet Ministers such as Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who are deemed to be discreetly jostling to become flag-bearers of the Right – along with influential former Ministers such as ex-Home Secretary Priti Patel. 

Rishi Sunak is facing an ambush from MPs at the Tory conference over his failure to promise pre-election tax cuts

No10 is closely watching Cabinet Ministers such as Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who are deemed to be discreetly jostling to become flag-bearers of the Right

Their movements at the conference in Manchester next month – and in particular the contents of their speeches – will be carefully monitored.

Tory MP Danny Kruger, who is a leading tax hawk, told The Mail on Sunday that there was ‘no time to lose to show why voters should stick with the Conservatives and demonstrate how we are the only party with the true interests of the nation at heart’.

The MP for Devizes in Wiltshire added: ‘The surest way to achieve that is to cut taxes and let people spend more of their own money. Rishi Sunak is to be applauded for restoring much-needed stability to the Government.

‘Now, to energise our party and revive our appeal to voters we must come forward with the promise of tax cuts. I do not mean a distant pledge for some time in the future – I mean this autumn, and preferably at the Conservative Party Conference in October.’

Mr Kruger, a member of the Commons Treasury Committee, explained: ‘Only last week, we learnt that the public borrowing requirement for the first four months of this year was no less than £11billion less than predicted by the ever-unreliable Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

‘This wasn’t because spending was down. Spending rose, as it always does these days.

Tory MP Danny Kruger, who is a leading tax hawk, told The Mail on Sunday that there was ‘no time to lose to show why voters should stick with the Conservatives and demonstrate how we are the only party with the true interests of the nation at heart’

‘This windfall was because tax receipts were higher than predicted. In other words, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt now has unexpected room for manoeuvre when it comes to offering much-needed tax relief.

‘We urgently need to liberate the animal spirits of enterprise and allow people to do the right thing by their families and communities.’

A Tory MP said: ‘There is a lot of restlessness in the party as we head for conference, and chatter about whether Kemi or Suella will go for it in Manchester. Time is running out for us to save the election’.

When Ms Badenoch was running for leader in 2022, she said she did not want to enter a ‘tax-cutting bidding war’ with the other candidates, while Ms Braverman stood on a tax-cutting manifesto. Ms Patel has led calls for Mr Hunt to reverse his rise in corporation tax.

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