BETA filters Key Facts (3)Rishi Sunak (4)Liz Truss (3)Nadhim Zahawi (2)Sam Bowman (1)Andrew Sparrow (1)
Truss pledges to ‘liberate British agriculture’ through deregulation
Liz Truss has promised to “liberate British food and farming” to improve the nation’s food security and “do away with burdensome EU regulations and red tape” if she becomes prime minister. The Tory leadership candidate did not give many details about the laws she would repeal, but promised to tackle labor shortages in agriculture with a short-term extension to the seasonal worker scheme. It comes after a recent government report warned that labor shortages “caused by Brexit and exacerbated by the pandemic” were badly affecting the food and farming sector, often forcing farmers to leave fruit to rot in fields and they kill healthy pigs. Truss said she would work to address long-term skills shortages and barriers to the adoption of labor-saving technologies. It also promised to replace EU legislation that restricts the development of agricultural infrastructure and technology, including the use of agricultural drones and precision breeding technologies. Sunak’s latest political promise was described as “another U-turn” by a Truss campaign source, after the former chancellor recently promised to cut VAT on energy bills, a policy he rejected in office. A Truss campaign source said it was a “shame” that Sunak had imposed taxes instead of reducing them as chancellor and “the public and members of the Conservative Party can see through these flip-flops and twists”. People “need tax cuts in seven weeks, not seven years,” the source said. Asked about the accusations of “backstabbing”, Sunak argued that the government had “been on the wrong side of a very serious moral issue”. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: I’m not going to comment specifically on what others choose to say, but I will address the broader claim they relate to, because I think there is a danger that people will see the last few months of the government on a slight rise. -tinted glasses for how it really was. Because it didn’t work as it should, and it’s very important the government got on the wrong side of a very serious moral issue and, for me, it was also going down the wrong economic path, and that’s why over 60 MPs at last count, I think, resigned from the government, of which, after much discussion and months of being at the Prime Minister’s side, I was one of them. Here’s a bit more from Rishi Sunak, who was speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program earlier. Asked about tax cut spending and tackling the NHS, Sunak replied: We can do both, so if you look at the projections for the economy that are already out there, it’s entirely within reach to continue to cut income tax over time, while growing public spending at a disciplined level and reducing our borrowing. . He dismissed accusations by his successor as chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, that he was “destroying” the economy as “rather amusing”. Sunak added: It’s my opponent in this contest who wants to insist on the failed orthodoxy that we have these extremely low corporate taxes and, you know what, they don’t work to increase business investment in this country – we’ve tried that for a decade.
Sunak promised to remove 4p from income tax within seven years
Rishi Sunak has pledged to remove 4p from income tax within seven years if he becomes prime minister in a last-ditch bid to win over Conservative party members as postal ballots begin to hit the doormats. The former chancellor insisted his “radical but realistic” plan was consistent with his record in office and his leadership campaign, despite strongly criticizing his rival for promising “morally wrong” tax and spending plans that would they increased borrowing. Cutting the basic rate from 20p in the pound to 16p would be equivalent to a 20% tax cut, the “biggest income tax cut for thirty years”, Sunak claimed. He said the 20% cut would be financed by “additional tax receipts generated by projected economic growth” and promised not to increase public debt to cover the cost. Mr Sunak’s proposed plan to cut income tax to £16m by the end of the next parliament would cost around £6bn a year. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said his income tax proposal was “absolutely affordable” and that he wanted to reduce income tax in a way that was “responsible”, ensuring it could be paid, while with economic development. Sunak added: I don’t think it would be wise to go on an excessive borrowing spree at a time when inflation and interest rates are already on the rise. Updated at 10.33 BST
Nadhim Zahawi officially endorses Liz Truss
Nadhim Zahawi, the chancellor, has officially endorsed Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race as Conservative party members start receiving their ballots for the final leadership vote today. Zahawi became the latest senior Tory spokesman to throw his weight behind the front-runner, praising Truss’ “bolshy” economic approach to the Daily Telegraph and saying he would “overturn stale economic orthodoxy and run our economy in a conservative way ». Zahawi wrote in the newspaper: Liz understands that the status quo is not an option in times of crisis. To quote the great economist Sam Bowman, we need an “enhancing” attitude to the economy, not a “destructive” one, in order to deal with cost-of-living woes and challenges on the global stage. Liz will overturn stale economic orthodoxy and run our economy conservatively. Welcome to today’s Politics Liveblog. I’ll be covering Andrew Sparrow today. Drop me a line if you have any questions or think I missed something. My email is [email protected] Updated at 10.33 BST