Jeremy Hunt has said further tax cuts are on the way in the autumn after the economy has “turned a corner”, as he criticised Keir Starmer for promising “motherhood and apple pie”.
The chancellor attempted to draw the battle lines for the next election by painting the Conservatives as tax-cutters and Labour as intending to raise tax.
In a speech on Friday, Hunt acknowledged families had been “battered by the global shocks” of a pandemic and energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine but argued the Conservatives had sheltered people’s finances.
He also insisted the economy was doing well, with inflation down to 3% and the country emerging from a shallow recession.
The Conservatives released a dossier saying Labour had a £38bn black hole in its costings and would have to increase tax.
In response, a Labour spokesperson said it was a “desperate attempt by the Tories to deflect from their £46bn unfunded tax plan that could lead to higher borrowing, higher taxes on pensioners or the end of the state pension as we know it”.
They added: “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.”
Hunt suggested he wanted to cut national insurance again in the autumn before an election and also said the Tories would commit to reducing the burden of taxation in the next parliament.
In response to Labour’s claims about the state pension, he said it was “fake news” and a lie intended to scare older people.
Hunt’s speech is the fourth major press conference held by a senior politician in the past two weeks. He followed the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, as the parties move into election campaign mode.
