Universal Credit should be made “much” more generous to ensure work pays, a Tory leadership candidate pledged today.
Tom Tugendhat made a rare defence of the welfare state after his right-wing rival, Suella Braverman, attacked poor Brits who “choose to rely on benefits”.
The ex-Army officer, a centre-right candidate for Prime Minister, said he would improve the taper rate - which affects 2.3million claimants (41%) who have a job.
It is one of the only interventions of the contest on the benefits system - where most Tory candidates have chosen to focus on tax and spending cuts despite a cost-of-living crisis.
Currently claimants lose 55p of their benefits for every £1 they earn from their job, over a threshold.
That was 63p until Rishi Sunak made it more generous. But Mr Tugendhat today said he would make the taper rate “much better” again.
He told the Mirror: “One of the things I’m really committed to is looking at the taper rate, because the Universal Credit taper rate is not where it should be.”
He praised the “phenomenal” reforms that created Universal Credit, which “sustained people through the darkest days” of Covid without collapsing.
But he added: “You can’t encourage work if the marginal rate of taxation is running higher than 60%, 70% [including Income Tax and other levies]. It just becomes absurd.
“Because when you factor in the costs of getting to work, and now of course even more so with the cost of fuel, what you’re actually doing is paying for work.
“That doesn’t work for anybody, of course it doesn’t. And actually it’s bad for society, because it means all these unfilled jobs… are costing all of us, because business isn’t generating, business isn’t doing as much as it could.
“And it also means people are then not, to use that dreadful phrase, up-skilling as they work and getting the experience to go on to better things.”
The MP would not be drawn on how he would help people with the cost of living, beyond a 10p fuel duty cut.
He also refused to guarantee he would keep the pensions triple lock which will lead to a bumper increase in April 2023.
Mr Tugendhat got 37 MPs’ votes in the first round of leadership voting while his rival Ms Braverman got 32 - putting them both at risk of elimination.
But the 49-year-old, who still wears his old Army socks every day, today insisted “I’m still in this fight” and declared: “I don’t quit.”
Mr Tugendhat gave a 45-minute press conference in front of a banner that read “TOM: A CLEAN START” but because he had blocked it, said simply: “TOM: A TART”.
He admitted “I feel like a prom queen” as rival candidates swirl to get his backing but refused to say who he will support if he blocks out.
He cryptically said his rivals were “very nice people - by and large” after right-wingers launched attacks on Rishi Sunak and surprise favourite Penny Mordaunt.
Asked about claims Ms Mordaunt was an unreliable minister he replied: “I’ve never worked with Penny so I simply can’t comment at all - I don’t know.”
And asked if right-wing favourite Liz Truss was a good Foreign Secretary he said: “It’s quite hard to say because she hasn’t been there that long, to be honest. It’s very hard to judge.”
But he said criticism was “fair”.
“It’s not always easy but it’s fair because if you’re running for an office like this, I think it’s fair that those who know you express views,” he said.
“This is a really short interview round for a hell of a big job.”
He admitted: “I’ve had some people who I thought were friends saying things that are not quite so nice about me.”
Allies of Mr Tugendhat want him to win today’s 3pm ballot so he can appear in TV debates on Friday and Sunday night, before the next ballot on Monday.
He vowed to attend the debates and urged his rivals to do the same, to help end “an issue with the credibility of our government”.
“If you’re asking for the trust of your colleagues…. then you’ve kind of got to be out there really haven’t you,” he said.
He said he would have “loved” Jeremy Hunt ’s support after the knocked-out centrist instead backed Rishi Sunak - but blamed the “sophisticated electorate” of MP voters.
“People will be using that level of sophistication to advance various agendas,” he said.
The MP sought to clarify remarks he made about Britain’s target to hit Net Zero emissions by 2050 after claims he said it should be pushed back.
Mr Tugendhat said: “Of course I agree with the target but nobody yet has set out a path to achieving it.”
He added he would review the green levies on energy bills - which cost customers dearly but are crucial to Net Zero goals.
Meanwhile he said he did not regret his 2016 vote for Remain - but now backs leaving and would not take Britain back into the EU.
“Once you get your orders, you march on”, he said. “I got my orders in June 2016 and I intend to deliver them”.
Elsewhere he said the disgraced ex-whip Chris Pincher should resign as an MP if he is found guilty of groping claims by a standards probe.
He said: “Everyone’s innocent until they’re proven guilty. Anyone who’s guilty of such an extraordinary crime, there’s no question they should lose their seat.”
