WHEN Rishi Sunak assumed the premiership of Britain in the last week of October 2022, after the painful culmination of a 49-day stint of Liz Truss, almost everyone was predicting a very bumpy road ahead for him. But, at the same time, it was expected of the chancellor-turned-prime minister to at least smooth out some of the disturbing wrinkles in the economic disposition of the country. But nothing of the sort happened. The only major step he has taken so far is the reshuffling in his cabinet – and that too after spending three months in office. His decision to adopt a go-slow approach with regard to his team is now taking its toll on the approval rating of the Conservative Party. As the date of spring budget approaches, he appears to be slipping fast into the quagmire of political and economic hitches. The sudden public appearance of Liz Truss, former prime minister, has also added to his headaches.
After a pause of some four months, Liz Truss has again sparked a new debate by writing an essay in the Telegraph in which she claimed that her short-lived premiership was scuttled by a "powerful economic establishment" and that the "sentiment had shifted Left-wards." In this piece, Truss argues that Whitehall's "strength of economic orthodoxy and its influence on the market" meant that her tax-cutting policies were too much for them to succeed. With the rapidly approaching spring budget on March 15, the Conservative Growth Group, a caucus of 50 Tory MPs, is advocating for Truss' tax-cutting agenda. Tax revenue as a share of GDP is at a 70-year high, but Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is sticking with the plan to raise corporation tax from 19 percent to 25 percent in April 2023. The increase in corporation tax is being targeted by Tory MPs, who are pushing for Chancellor of Exchequer Jeremy Hunt to announce that corporation tax will be frozen. This could potentially put pressure on the government's 80-seat majority.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)