Rishi Sunak today dodged over rumours of a stealth council tax rise to help fill the black hole in social care funding.
The Chancellor sidestepped as he was grilled about the prospect of increasing the levy local authorities can charge, or allowing them to increase the level without holding a referendum.
But he also determinedly refused to kill off speculation that the government has pencilled in a tax cut for before the election if the economy recovers.
Cabinet ministers have been increasingly restive about national insurance rises to shore up the NHS and reform social care, which have taken the burden to its highest ever sustained level.
In a round of interviews at Tory conference in Manchester, Mr Sunak was asked repeatedly about whether he would approve further tax increases, including a hike to council tax to help fund social care after a warning from local authorities.
Rishi Sunak (pictured on a visit to a building site in Manchester with Boris Johnson today) has dodged over rumours of a stealth council tax rise to help fill the black hole in social care funding
Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson togged up in hi-vis gear for the visit in Manchester today
Mr Sunak told Sky News he would not 'pre-empt' the local government finance settlement later in the year and added to LBC he 'never can comment about future tax policy'.
He did not rule out an increase to income tax before the next election - but also refused to rule out a cut if there is enough headroom.
Mr Sunak told BBC Breakfast: 'Recently we did make a significant announcement on tax and it was a difficult decision to make, especially for a Conservative Chancellor and a Conservative Prime Minister.
'But we took that decision because we wanted to make sure the NHS got the significant funds it requires to help recover strongly from coronavirus.'
Social care costs are partly met from central government funds, but also from councils - who have warned they require £2.6billion a year just to sustain current levels of social care.
Ministers are reportedly looking at letting local authorities increase the social care levy above 3 per cent without the need for a local referendum.
An alternative would be a direct cash injection in the spending review later this month.
Meanwhile, Mr Sunak is committing more than
