Liz Truss, a front-runner for the Tory leadership, promised tonight that her administration will impose “no additional taxes” if elected prime minister next week.
The Foreign Secretary reiterated her commitment to reduce green taxes on energy bills and stop the increase in National Insurance. She has regularly criticised the present tax load on Britons.
But last evening, at the final hustings of the Tory leadership race, she went a step further by pledging not to enact any new taxes should she succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister.
The last six weeks have been used by Ms. Truss to attempt to set herself apart from Rishi Sunak, her opponent, on the subject of taxes.
The former chancellor has come under fire from her after the tax burden reached its highest point in 70 years when he was in control of the Treasury.
After the Foreign Secretary ruled out additional windfall tax on oil and gas majors as they enjoy record profits amid the energy crisis, more lines were drawn between Ms. Truss and Mr. Sunak tonight.
If she were to become prime minister, she vowed that there would be no energy rationing in Britain.
In contrast, Mr. Sunak justified the winfall tax he imposed earlier this year on energy firms and did not completely rule out energy rationing this winter as a result of the “serious” situation being experienced across Europe.
When asked to reaffirm a commitment made by Mr. Johnson ahead of the 2019 general election, Ms. Truss reaffirmed her guarantee not to enact any additional taxes.
At tonight’s hustings meeting at London’s Wembley Arena, she assured Tory members that there would be no additional taxes.
When a National Insurance hike was later announced by the PM and Mr. Sunak last year, Labour exploited Mr. Johnson’s tax pledge from 2019 — in which he committed not to raise income tax, VAT, or National Insurance — to attack the Tories.
Along with her pledge to reduce green taxes on energy bills and roll back the increase in National Insurance, Ms. Truss tonight strongly hinted that she would provide more assistance to families facing mounting expenses.
The Foreign Secretary stated: “In a fiscal event, the chancellor would handle the problem of household assistance.”
This was in response to his earlier vow to create a “emergency budget” to solve the cost-of-living crisis.
Ms. Truss said that she will “seek to intervene” in response to the exorbitant energy costs faced by companies.
You may have heard me mention the energy supply, and for that reason, she said, “I believe dealing with supply is the solution to this issue since you’re correct, it’s a problem for companies with high energy expenses as well as for individuals.”
“So, I would be looking across the board to make sure we’re improving supply and dealing with the fundamental cause of the problem instead of simply bandaging it, but I would definitely be trying to act on commercial energy prices,” said the speaker.
Despite recent speculations that she may reduce the tax by 5% globally, the Foreign Secretary steadfastly refused to say if she would reduce VAT.
When asked whether she could rule out energy rationing happening in Britain, Ms. Truss said, “I do rule that out,” citing this week’s warning from the French government.
Energy rationing this winter is something Mr. Sunak said he wouldn’t rule out and that he was “happy” to have implemented the windfall tax on oil and gas revenues.
As chancellor, I brought in the windfall tax, and I’m delighted I did because it was the correct thing to do, he added.
I’m not really sure if Liz agrees with it or not.
“But I believe it is definitely the appropriate thing at a time when energy firms are generating millions of pounds in profits due to a war, it is wrong, and we should especially tax them and assist with those people’s bills,” the speaker said.
When asked whether energy rationing would be an option, Mr. Sunak said, “We shouldn’t rule anything out because the issues that we confront with this crisis are severe.
“That is a wise thing for us to be doing as a nation,” she said.
The last hustings of Ms. Truss and Mr. Sunak’s campaign for the leadership of the Conservative Party took place tonight at London’s Wembley Arena.
On Friday at 5 p.m., Tory members will vote to choose either the Foreign Secretary or the former Chancellor to succeed Boris Johnson.
On Monday, the first day that MPs return to the House of Commons following their summer vacation, the outcome is then scheduled to be disclosed at a Westminster location at 12.30 p.m.
The next day, Ms. Truss or Mr. Sunak will be officially installed as prime minister.
Instead of going to Buckingham Palace as has been customary throughout the Queen’s 70-year reign, Mr. Johnson and his successor will fly to Balmoral to visit the monarch.
This will prevent any last-minute changes from needing to be made in the event that Her Majesty has mobility concerns on the day.