Jeremy Hunt to lay out plan for the economy in major speech today as he resists calls for tax cuts
JEREMY Hunt will set out his long-term vision for the UK’s finances in a major speech to bankers this morning.
Ahead of the March Budget, at 9.20am the Chancellor will reveal his plan to boost economic growth and reject doomsayers who think Britain is in decline.
And Mr Hunt will detail how post-Brexit freedoms will be used to unlock £100bn of private investment in the economy.
The Chancellor is set to say: “Our plan for the years that follow is long term prosperity based on British genius and British hard work.
“And world-beating enterprises to make Britain the world’s next Silicon Valley.”
He’ll add: “Declinism about Britain was wrong in the past – and it is wrong today.
Most read in News Money
“Some of the gloom is based on statistics that do not reflect the whole picture.
“If we look further ahead, the case for declinism becomes weaker still. The UK is poised to play a leading role in Europe and across the world in the growth sectors which will define this century.”
Mr Hunt will call on businesses across the globe to invest in British tech entrepreneurs, life science innovators and energy companies.
He wants the UK to be a future go-to hub for start-ups and innovation, which would boost employment, productivity and pour more money into the economy.
READ MORE MONEY NEWS
But Mr Hunt faces major challenges ahead, with inflation still sitting at a staggering 10.7 per cent.
And with the price of energy remaining sky high, hard-up households are struggling to stay warm and feed themselves.
Because of the cost of living crisis, the Chancellor isn’t planning to slash taxes at the upcoming budget.
The tax burden in Britain is the highest it’s been since WWII.
And Tory MPs are getting increasingly frustrated it.
Rishi Sunak insists he’s still a Conservative at heart.
But this month he told the public the nation’s finances have to get back on track before taxes can come down.
Earlier this week ministers were warned that Britain’s medium-term economic outlook is even worse than expected.
In a private submission to the Treasury, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said growth will be slower than anticipated last year.
And the watchdog warned of a big black hole in the public purse, which could mean more cuts to public services are needed.
Last November the OBR predicted the economy would shrivel by 1.4% in 2023, before picking up by 2.6% in 2024.
But in bleak news for hard-up Brits, the growth forecast was recently reduced by 0.2 and 0.5 per.
Most read in The Sun
This is because of weaknesses in the economy, including a shortage of people going to work.
A Treasury source said: “There seems to be a view out there that Hunt suddenly has all this money to play with for tax cuts. But that is not the view internally.”