Boris Johnson to suspend planned corporate tax cut | Taxes and expenses

Boris Johnson has told business leaders he will put a planned cut in corporation tax on hold, saying he will instead spend £6billion on public services.

Prime Minister used a speech at the CBI conference to say corporation tax will not be cut from 19% to 17%, and appealed to business leaders for understanding about his priorities.

Johnson’s decision to keep corporation tax unchanged comes as he tries to steer the Conservatives away from being seen as the party of big business, while promising tax cuts for small businesses, such as the reduction in rates and the increase in employment allowance. George Osborne originally announced plans to reduce the tax to 17% by 2020.

Labor has relentlessly portrayed the Tories as the party of the wealthy and promised a number of nationalisations, which they said would make public services, railways, broadband and other services work better for the public .

The Prime Minister’s calculations of the money saved will raise questions over Tory claims that cutting corporation tax does not cost the Treasury money.

Johnson also hinted that he would include a major commitment on child care in his manifesto.

Speaking at a hotel in Greenwich, south-east London, Johnson said the Conservatives were the business party but reversing the corporate tax cut would save £6billion. pound sterling.

“I hope you understand that this is the most financially sensible thing to do,” he said.

Elsewhere in his speech, the PM told business leaders he would make Brexit happen and create certainty for them. He said the economy was “like a Formula 1 supercar firing on half its cylinders with so much more natural energy waiting to be unleashed” because Brexit was not over.

“The country is held back by politics and parliament,” he said.

Speaking at the same conference, Jeremy Corbyn took a dovish approach to business leaders, saying he was not anti-business and outlining all the reasons why leaders should support a Labor administration.

“I’m sometimes said to be anti-business,” he said. “It’s complete nonsense. It’s not anti-corporate to be against poverty wage. It’s not bad business to say that the biggest corporations should pay their taxes the way the big guys do. small businesses It is not anti-business to want prosperity in all parts of our country and not just in the City of London.

“And I also say this to businesses: if a Labor government is elected on December 12, you are going to see more investment than you ever dreamed of. You are going to have the most educated workforce you have ever hoped for. You’ll get the state-of-the-art infrastructure, including the full-fiber broadband you’ve long demanded.

“You will enjoy the fast and reliable transport connections you have always dreamed of. You are going to have the certainty of a customs union and access to the single market, as you have been advocating for a long time.

Business leaders have expressed reservations about his surprise plans to partially nationalize BT, announced last week, to provide free broadband to all.

When asked if he accepted the CBI’s assessment that renationalisation would cause a ‘chill’ for business, he replied: “Listen, all businesses have been arguing for years that in order to grow they have to need good quality broadband… I think that seems fair and a good proposal. You accept the principle of a universal supply of electricity and postal services. Broadband is absolutely essential for this. I proposed this because I think it makes sense and is doable.

Corbyn also defended Labour’s ambition of a four-day week over the next decade, when asked how that would fit in with ambitions to improve the UK’s lagging productivity.

“The shorter workweek that we aspire to will be funded and paid for by increases in productivity,” he said.

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson also spoke at the conference, promising to scrap business rates and replace them with a tax on commercial landowners. She also attacked Boris Johnson’s record of defending business given his past comments that “fuck business” concerns over Brexit.

“The vote to leave the European Union has distracted the government from addressing the very real problems of our economy,” she said. “This has created great uncertainty about the future of our country, the future of our economy and our relationship with our closest trading partners.

“I can only imagine how frustrating it is for all of you, every time
we find ourselves days away from crashing out of the EU. How frustrating to see the government recklessly pursuing a policy that would
detrimental to your business.

“How frustrating to have to pay such a high price just so Boris Johnson can play Prime Minister. Just so the man who said ‘fuck business’ can sit in No 10.”