Starting on Sunday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will preside over the annual Conservative Party conference while facing pressure from his own party’s members to reduce taxes as the ruling party prepares for a general election due in 2024.
The likes of former home secretary Priti Patel (of Indian descent) and his predecessor Liz Truss (who had a relatively brief stay at 10 Downing Street last year after her effort to lower taxes in a disputed mini-budget) are among the Tory MPs openly voicing their dissatisfaction.
It followed this week’s prediction by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank that tax levels in the UK are at their highest since records began 70 years ago.
According to a tweet by Truss, the country’s economy is struggling in part because of the country’s historically high tax load.
She argued that, given the current state of the economy, it is imperative that we work toward lowering people’s overall tax obligations.
Patel told GB News’ that taxes need to be lowered after she was made a Dame by former prime minister Boris Johnson and picked up the honor at Windsor Castle earlier this week.
“The tax rate is at a 70-year high right now. That can’t go on forever. Patel stated in a Friday interview that tax payers are struggling Britons all across the country.
Conservatives, she explained, would rather see individuals keep more of their hard-earned cash than see the size of government expand.
Home Secretary Boris Johnson’s replacement, Suella Braverman, disagreed with the Sunak-led government’s assertion that tax cuts are not possible so long as inflation is high.
You can’t have it both ways… Margaret Thatcher, a former Conservative prime minister, “was able to tackle inflation while growing the economy and speaking of economic growth,” she recalled, according to the news and radio station.
Amid what he called a “challenging” period for the Conservative Party, Patel criticized the “gamesmanship and shenanigans” that had taken place within Tory ranks and urged a shift to “forward facing” tactics in order to win the next general election.
I don’t think people will forget how Johnson and Truss, two democratically elected Conservative Party leaders, were forced out of government. She dismissed her own hopes for leadership by declaring, “I don’t support that.”
The Tory party conference begins on Sunday in Manchester, and the flagship leader’s address will be given by Sunak on the final day, Wednesday. Internal divisions and high taxes are likely to dominate the agenda.
The 43-year-old British Indian leader would want to put on a good show as he gears up for an election year where the Conservatives are behind the Labour Party’s in the polls.
For example, Sunak has taken a hard line against Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) in England to prevent their introduction without local support because he thinks this is an issue that will resonate with the British public.
“I’m slamming the brakes on the war on motorists, it’s as simple as that,” he told The Sun’ on Saturday.
He emphasized the need to end “hare-brained schemes” like Low Traffic Neighborhoods and 20 mph speed limits that are imposed on communities without their consent.
His new proposals come after his administration revised its Net Zero regulations, pushing back the date when diesel and gasoline vehicles will be banned from sale from 2030 to 2035.
While his latest policy shift may have given him a slight bump in the polls, Sunak will need to win over British voters and silence his party’s dissenters at the upcoming Tory conference.
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