Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Budget 2021: Chancellor Rishi Sunak denies raising taxes to cut them before next election to win votes - but says reducing burden is 'goal'

Budget 2021: Chancellor Rishi Sunak denies raising taxes to cut them before next election to win votes - but says reducing burden is 'goal'

In his budget, the chancellor promised plans to build "a stronger economy for the British people" after the coronavirus crisis - as he cut alcohol and air passenger duties and lowered the Universal Credit taper rate amid the looming threat of inflation.

Rishi Sunak has denied he raised taxes in the autumn Budget so that he can cut them again ahead of the next general election in order to win more votes - but insisted he will aim to bring the tax burden down before then.

The chancellor said the rises announced in his budget last month must be seen in the context of the public services being delivered following the coronavirus pandemic and told MPs that people's quality of life can be boosted by higher taxes.

It comes after Mr Sunak hiked the tax burden on Britons to its highest level since the Labour government led by Clement Attlee in the 1950s.

The chancellor delivered his budget in the Commons last week


Addressing the Commons Treasury Committee on Monday, the chancellor said "voluntarily" raising taxes would be "the last thing" he would do, and that he took the measures "to fund what we needed to".

Delivering his budget last Wednesday, Mr Sunak said it had been necessary for the government to take "corrective action" due to impact the pandemic has had on the economy.

And reiterating this point during a session of the Commons Treasury Select Committee on Monday, the chancellor said the purpose of raising taxes is to "fix the damage that coronavirus has done".

Among the tax increases, National Insurance contributions will rise by 1.25% from next April to help pay for the NHS and social care system.

"We can look at the taxes and, yes, people are paying more, they're going to pay the new health and social care levy, no-one is pretending otherwise, that takes money from people, that's why in an ideal world I would prefer not to have to put taxes up on people," Mr Sunak told MPs.

"But you do get something for that money. It's all very well to just look at the taxes without looking at what you're getting.

"So, you can talk about living standards by just looking at the tax side, I think that's probably slightly unfair because people's quality of life is also influenced by the quality of the public services that they get."

Mr Sunak defended hiking the burden on Britons to a level not seen since the 1950s


His comments come as disquiet grows among some Conservative MPs over the fact that rising prices have left many families facing a potential cost-of-living squeeze.

But Mr Sunak said "the reason the tax burden is very high is because we're spending a lot on lots of different things".

He continued: "Believe me, the last thing I would do is voluntarily raise taxes. We've had to do that to fund... what we needed to do, right?"

The chancellor also pledged to pursue his aim of bringing taxes down again.

Mr Sunak said it had been necessary for the government to take 'corrective action' due to impact the pandemic has had on the economy


"That's very much my goal, my mission, over the remainder of this parliament, and we took a step in that direction at budget," he told MPs.

After delivering his budget, Mr Sunak told MPs that the measures he put in place to protect jobs at the start of the pandemic meant the economy was now recovering strongly and unemployment is far lower than many had feared.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) now expects the UK's economic recovery from the COVID pandemic to be "quicker" than previously thought, Mr Sunak told MPs, with growth revised up from 4% to 6.5% for this year.

In 2022, the OBR expects the UK economy to grow by 6%, and 2.1%, 1.3% and 1.6% over the following three years.

And it has also revised down its estimates of long-term "scarring" to the UK economy of the COVID crisis.

Delivering his budget, the chancellor also told the Commons that the OBR expects a lesser peak of unemployment, of 5.2%, which means "over two million fewer people out of work than previously feared".

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×