Jeremy Hunt: I’m able to slash taxes to turbocharge Britain’s bounce-back | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Jeremy Hunt insists he is able to reduce taxes to turbocharge the UK’s financial bounceback.

Writing completely for the Daily Express, the Chancellor says the nation’s fortunes are on the up because of the “hard yards” put in by thousands and thousands of employees.

“The economy is bouncing back,” Mr Hunt mentioned, as he hailed decrease inflation, greater wages, and a return to development as “clear signs that the economy has turned a corner.”

With the Tories searching for to spice up their election probabilities later this yr the revved-up Chancellor says it’s now time to “release the handbrake” and unleash extra development as he signalled additional tax cuts are on the way in which.

“Now we need to make this stick. I plan to go further, cutting taxes that hold back growth,” he says.

“As inflation falls further, the handbrake which is holding back growth will be released, setting off sustainable growth that leaves people feeling better off and secures funding for public services.

“Britain has done the hard yards on inflation, now we are ready to cuts taxes and bet on growth.”

His upbeat outlook comes as new figures present the economic system is constant to develop following a mini-slump final yr.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.1% in February this yr, following an increase of 0.3% in January, the Office for National Statistics mentioned.

Production, notably the motor business, helps the economic system to roar again to life.

But the washout winter dampened efficiency within the building, retail and farming industries, the ONS mentioned.

Rising GDP often means individuals are spending extra, additional jobs are created, extra tax is paid and employees get higher pay rises.

The excellent news has elevated calls for on the Bank of England to chop rates of interest – decreasing the price of mortgages – from the present 16-year excessive of 5.25 per cent within the coming months.

Inflation – which has plunged to three.4% – is predicted to have fallen once more when the newest figures are printed subsequent week.

Experts say the speed may fall again to the Bank’s 2% goal by subsequent month May.

Sam Miley of the CEBR mentioned: “We expect growth to continue throughout 2024, driven by alleviating headwinds, such as easing inflation and interest rate cuts.”

Rob Wood chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics mentioned: “We are optimistic about the near-term outlook for GDP.

“Both services and manufacturing have returned to growth this year and the construction sector will likely join them once the rain disruption passes.”

Optimism within the economic system pushed the FTSE 100 to a close to report excessive on Friday as confidence booms.

Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown, mentioned: “The FTSE has been lifted greater by the contemporary breeze within the sails of the UK economic system.”

She mentioned there’s “plenty of optimism” concerning the prospect of rate of interest cuts coming in the summertime “which has given the FTSE 100 an extra surge of power.”

Despite the optimistic information there are nonetheless considerations that extra must be achieved to assist small companies.

Tina McKenzie, Policy Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), mentioned: “Positive economic growth in February is certainly welcome, building on January’s momentum and giving a measure of optimism to small firms, who have been battling against strong headwinds for some time now.

“It will take more than flashes of growth to raise spirits in the hospitality and retail sectors.”

Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves mentioned: “After 14 years of Conservative economic failure, Britain is worse off with low growth and high taxes. The Conservatives cannot fix the economy because they are the reason it is broken.”

It comes as an unbiased assessment warned the Bank of England’s potential to regulate inflation has been undermined by “significant shortcomings” in its financial forecasts.

A withering evaluation led by former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned the accuracy of the Bank’s predictions had “deteriorated significantly” within the wake of the pandemic.

Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, vowed to study from the report however refused to apologise, insisting “we do not do hindsight”.

The US central banker mentioned that there had been “deficiencies” in Threadneedle Street’s potential to foretell the affect of financial shocks comparable to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.