Jeremy Hunt has promised further tax cuts if the Conservatives win the general election.
The chancellor made the announcement today as he sought to draw an electoral dividing line between the Tories and the Labour Party.
It comes after the Chancellor slashed national insurance contributions by 2p in the Spring Budget and claimed he wanted to scrap the levy entirely – but was later forced to admit this was a longer term ambition, which Labour dismissed as an unfunded £46bn pledge.
Under current plans, the overall tax burden is expected to rise over the next five years to around 37 per cent of GDP, close to a post-Second World War high, but ministers say that was necessary to pay for the pandemic-era furlough scheme and the energy bill bailout.
In his speech, Hunt stressed there was an “ocean of deep blue water” between the Tories and Labour and there was a choice between “a prosperous future or a poorer one.”
He would not commit to raising income tax thresholds, dubbed a “stealth tax” for dragging lower earners into paying more, but vowed that he could “make a very clear argument that we will bring down taxes, and I can do so with credibility”.
Speaking in London, Hunt was asked about his tax cuts in the spring budget and told reporters: “There is a choice that the Labour Party does not want to … cut the tax burden, a future Conservative government will.
“That is the big choice in British politics and our argument is that this isn’t just about family budgets. We understand how important those are when it comes to cost-of-living pressures.
“Our argument is this is about future growth of the economy, because we can see looking around the world that more lightly-taxed economies have more dynamic private sectors, they grow faster and, in the end, that is more money for precious public services like the NHS.”
Hunt also suggested he would seek to cut taxes further in the autumn, but only if he could do so responsibly.
He said: “If we can afford to go further responsibly to reduce the double tax on work this autumn that is what I will do.
“Because over time, we make no apology for wanting to keep cutting the double tax on work until it is gone, but only when we can do so without increasing borrowing and without cutting funding for public services or pensions.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “This is another desperate attempt by the Tories to deflect from their £46 billion unfunded tax plan that could lead to higher borrowing, higher taxes on pensioners or the end of the state pension as we know it.
“All of Labour’s policies are fully costed and fully funded. Unlike the Conservatives, who crashed the economy, Labour will never play fast and loose with the public finances.
“Jeremy Hunt would be better spent getting Rishi Sunak to confirm the date of the election, rather than putting out any more of these dodgy dossiers.”