UK Foreign Secretary reluctant to commit to corporate tax plan

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly was reluctant to confirm or deny whether the government would maintain its low corporate tax policy on Thursday, saying it was only important to keep businesses competitive.

Prime Minister Liz Truss is under pressure to change course on an economic package that has rattled markets, with some investors and her own lawmakers calling on her to reverse a 43 billion pound ($48 billion) cuts plan. unfunded taxes, including the removal of a corporate tax increase from 19% to 25%. When asked in a series of interviews if the government would abandon the move, Cleverly said it was important to invest in businesses and help them stay competitive, and that he supported the overall plan to revival of economic growth.

‘The chancellor will come to the dispatch box,’ he said when asked by Sky News if the corporation tax plan would remain permanently. “I think it’s only right that we’ve made it clear that we want to invest in business.” Truss, the 47-year-old former foreign secretary, was elected last month by members of her party and not the wider electorate on a promise to lift the economy out of years of stagnation by cutting taxes and reforming areas such as planning, migration and employment.

But the September 23 launch of its new economic policy triggered a sell-off in the government bond market that pushed up borrowing costs and mortgage rates and forced the Bank of England to intervene to protect funds from pension. Mel Stride, chairman of the House Treasury Committee and supporter of Truss leadership rival Rishi Sunak, said on Wednesday that more policy reversals may be needed after the government reversed its decision to scrap the maximum interest rate. ‘income tax.

Former finance minister Sajid Javid, who backed Truss in the leadership race, was quoted in the Times newspaper as saying the government must cut tax cuts or energy subsidies because it was “absolutely crucial” to show he could balance the books. Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng will present a comprehensive fiscal policy as well as borrowing and growth forecasts on October 31.

($1 = 0.9040 pounds)

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