My intervention to the Treasury Minister about the Government’s big increase in tax burden

Rt Hon Sir John Redwood MP (Wokingham) (Con): Why are theĀ UK GovernmentĀ the only Government of an advanced country making a big increase in the tax burden this year and next, at exactly the same time as we are seeing very necessary monetary tightening to control inflation and a huge hit to net incomes from that inflation itself? Is that big tax rise not bound to make things worse and slow the economy too much?

John Glen, Minister of State (Treasury): We always listen carefully to my right hon. Friend. As he will know, we cut taxes earlier this year for hundreds of thousands of businesses though an increase in the employment allowance. We have also slashed fuel duty and halved business rates for eligible high street firms. We will continue to support growth through tax incentives, including the annual investment allowance and the super deductionā€”the biggest two-year business cuts in modern British history.

As I said in my response toĀ Mr McFaddenĀ a few moments ago, we look forward to working closely with him andĀ Back BenchersĀ to construct the right agenda going into the future.

14 Comments

  1. Mickey Taking
    June 15, 2022

    ‘We always listen carefully to my right hon. Friend’.
    And then totally ignore him. There are so few similar voices in this Chamber that we get away with doing exactly what we want. The bench opposite are so hopeless Johnson can rightly sit back unchallenged.

    1. Mark B
      June 15, 2022

      Never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake. Yes, it could be incompetence by Labour but, the longer and deeper this mess, the better it is for the opposition and, if they get power they can keep the high taxes in place as they have made no promises to reduce them.

      šŸ˜‰

  2. Everhopeful
    June 15, 2022

    Yes.
    Listen to JRā€¦
    And then DO EXACTLY AS HE TELLS YOU!

  3. Berkshire Alan
    June 15, 2022

    Selective answers as usual.

  4. agricola
    June 15, 2022

    Cut, slashed, and halved are popular verbs in use by the treasury at present. It does not draw a veil over the fact that tax in the UK is at its highest since ww2.

    The Cabinet need to get a grip on the Treasury and decimate the tax take, allowing increased commercial activity to result in more money in government coffers. The current socialist template will destroy any benefits from Brexit. Appart from reducing tax levels there are taxes which should be totally abolished, IHT for instance.

  5. a-tracy
    June 15, 2022

    Instead of taking with one hand a giving a bit back to the selected few perhaps save yourself the work government and don’t charge the excessive tax rates in the first place.

    The ‘slashed’fuel duty was 5p per litre that wasn’t passed on by the retailers. Gov UK ‘The Government is cutting fuel duty for petrol and diesel by 5 pence per litre across the whole of the UK for 12 months, taking effect from 6pm on the 23rd March 2022.’ BBC ’17 May 2022 ā€” The government has raised concerns that petrol retailers are not passing on the recent cut in fuel duty, after diesel prices hit another record’

  6. formula57
    June 15, 2022

    Were it actually true that “We always listen carefully to my right hon. Friend.” then the Minister would be able to work out for himself that the Sunak Slump has begun now.

  7. Narrow Shoulders
    June 15, 2022

    Interesting response – it’s OK to milk the PAYE serfs because we have made some paltry gestures to the business community.

  8. oldwulf
    June 15, 2022

    “…we cut taxes earlier this year for hundreds of thousands of businesses though an increase in the employment allowance. We have also slashed fuel duty and halved business rates for eligible high street firms. We will continue to support growth through tax incentives, including the annual investment allowance and the super deduction”

    ie “We prefer to tinker around the edges and try and grab some headlines along the way ….. rather than make fundamental changes to the tax system so as to directly encourage and benefit many millions of taxpayers in their fight to deal with inflation.”

  9. Donna
    June 15, 2022

    5p off Fuel Duty with VAT then levied on top is not “slashing” Fuel Duty.

    These socialists must think we were born yesterday.

  10. Sharon
    June 15, 2022

    ā€œ slashed fuel dutyā€ ! Iā€™d hardly call 5p slashingā€¦ especially as the price seems to still be rising daily!

    Letā€™s hope they do listen to back benchers, who are far more in tune with public. More to the point, letā€™s hope they act on the views of the backbenchers!!!

  11. Bloke
    June 15, 2022

    There’s nothing super in cutting taxes after raising them to an-time high. The Chancellor is meekly trying to amend the major mistakes he made earlier.

    We need someone far better, with foresight: Right first time every time. Not an incessant tax rule writer of wrongs.

  12. Mark B
    June 15, 2022

    We have also slashed fuel duty . . .

    Yes ! By a whopping 5p when the Treasury has taken even more than that in both Duty and VAT.

    Not impressed.

  13. Al
    June 16, 2022

    A Ā£1,000 increase in employment allowance is not enough to cover the cost of hiring more staff for any but the biggest businesses. Changing employment allowance also does nothing to increase the pound in the pocket of the staff, which would increase the money flow into the local community (the poor spend more) and could assist in depressed areas. Instead the saving just vanishes into the business reserves and shareholders’ dividends.

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