Rishi Sunak was facing fury from within Tory ranks today over a lack of tax cuts to help ailing businesses and workers in the Budget this week.
The Chancellor was slammed by a serving minister over plans to ignore a 2019 manifesto pledge to cut business rates when he sets out his economic plans on Wednesday.
They accused him of being 'captured by the Treasury' as it was claimed he will only tinker around the edges of the levy, amid widespread calls for reform in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
At the same time former minister David Davis publicly lashed out at the Chancellor over taxes today, questioning whether he was a 'Thatcherite', as he has previously claimed.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday he said: 'I knew Margaret Thatcher, so I will watch with interest whether he can match the brilliance that Thatcher, and her great Chancellor Nigel Lawson brought to government.
'Sadly, every indication so far is that his current course will take us on to the rocks – not away from them.
The Chancellor was slammed by a serving minister over plans to ignore a 2019 manifesto pledge to cut business rates when he sets out his economic plans on Wednesday.
At the same time former minister David Davis publicly lashed out at the Chancellor over taxes today, questioning whether he was a 'Thatcherite', as he has previously claimed
'I fear Rishi will do so by making a most un-Thatcherite choice to persevere with raising taxes as the solution to ballooning Government debt.
Mr Sunak and Boris Johnson have faced down Tory complaints over their economic plans, insisting that higher taxation must be used instead of increasing public borrowing, as they seek to refloat the economy after the Covid pandemic.
The Chancellor used an article in the Sun today to say that the Budget would 'invest in public services, invest in growth, and invest in jobs'.
'Coronavirus has meant our economy has taken a hit. And in order to recover strongly, we need to be responsible because everything comes at a cost.
'And the money we spend is yours, the taxpayer's money, not anyone else's.
Earlier this year, I said I would be honest with the country about the challenges we face to ensure our public finances get back on to a strong footing.
And the experiences of the last 18 months have made me more certain of how important a strong and resilient economy is.
That is why this week's Budget and Spending Review will set out a plan to deliver the people's priorities, support business, help our recovery, ease pressures on the cost of living but also to strengthen the public finances so we have a stronger economy for the British people.'
Mr Sunak is also considering cutting the tax on beer from kegs and sparkling English wine to protect pubs and vineyards from the economic damage wrought by Covid, and imposing a residential property developer tax to pay for the removal of flammable cladding from high-rise buildings.
The levy would be paid by housebuilders with profits of more than £25 million who hoard land.
Mr Sunak is also expected to announce £3 billion of investment in education, including the quadrupling of places on skills bootcamps and more classroom hours for up to 100,000 16- to 19-year-olds studying ‘T levels’.
He will also announce a £435 million crime-fighting package in this week’s combined Budget and Spending Review – with a particular emphasis on tackling violence against women.
In his statement to MPs on Wednesday, Mr Sunak is expected to say that he has earmarked £355 million for measures such as improved street lighting and better CCTV, with a further £80 million going to the Crown Prosecution Service.
In an acknowledgement of the national revulsion over the murder of Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, the Chancellor expects the CPS to devote a significant proportion of the extra funds to improving its response to cases of sexual violence.
It also coincides with rising alarm over the number of cases around the country of women being drugged after being spiked by injection or through having their drinks tampered with in nightclubs.
Exact details of the funding were still being thrashed out with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab this weekend, with Mr Raab understood to be the last Cabinet Minister to reach agreement with the Chancellor over the final Spending Review settlement.
High taxing Chancellor Rishi Sunak will send UK economy crashing onto the rocks, writes former Brexit secretary DAVID DAVISWhen Rishi Sunak
