“This is not a new position for me on tax cuts. I opposed the rise of National Insurance in the Cabinet – I thought it was wrong at the time. I was also opposed to raising corporate tax. “And my view is that in these very difficult economic times, the last thing we should be doing is raising taxes, because we need to attract new investment to our country, we need to encourage people to come to work.” And he adds: “It is the wrong time to raise taxes.” Ms Truss highlighted her differences with Mr Sunak, who intends to push ahead with a corporate tax increase. Ms Truss also attempts to distinguish herself from Ms Mordaunt, Mr Tugendhat and Ms Badenoch – without mentioning any by name – adding: “Where I differ is tradition and experience. I have a track record of getting things done in government. “I am someone who is prepared to be bold, I am prepared to get things done, I am prepared to challenge Whitehall orthodoxy. And that’s what we have to do. Because orthodoxy doesn’t work. “And to deliver on what we’ve promised, to deliver a better life for our constituents across the country, we need to do things differently.” Another tax Ms Truss reveals she intends to target is business rates, stating: “In my view, they are holding back growth.” Ms Truss believes there has been a lack of ambition for housing. He wants to replace central targets with tax and regulatory incentives for companies to build new homes, which he sees as far more likely to encourage companies to act. “I want to dismantle the Stalinist housing targets inspired by Whitehall from top to bottom. I think this is the wrong way to develop economic growth,” he says. “The best way to create economic growth is from the bottom up, creating those incentives for investment through the tax system, simplifying regulations.” Ms Truss wants to amend Mr Johnson’s bill to legislate for new low-tax “investment and development zones”. The central goals are a “working approach,” he says. “It’s not conservative.” He adds: “What I want to achieve is the biggest change in our economic policy in 30 years. That is the scale of the challenge we face.” In addition to cutting taxes, he wants to cut red tape “to get our economy moving.”
Revision of EU Solvency II rules
This includes revising the EU’s Solvency II rules that tie the hands of insurers and “liberat[ing] more of our pension funds so they can invest in high-tech start-ups.” “We need to do things differently in terms of how we regulate – we need to mobilize our economy. “There is a tendency in Whitehall to be cautious, risk averse and slow. But we can’t afford to wait any longer. There is an urgent need to continue delivering these opportunities post-Brexit.” Ms Truss also appears concerned about the Bank of England’s response to inflation. He says he will “look again” at the mandate agreed with the government “to make sure it is tough enough on inflation”. And in a major break with the Treasury’s approach to date, it would set out a “clear direction of travel” for monetary policy. “I’m afraid that some of the inflation has been caused by an increase in the money supply. For me, handling inflation is a matter of monetary policy. And in addition to a very clear plan of how we’re going to reform the supply side, how we’re going to get public sector spending under control over time, I’d also have a very clear direction of travel for monetary policy.” Another concern of many MPs on the right of the Conservative Party is fracking – and he shows he agrees the current ban should be lifted. “I support the Net Zero goal, but we have to get to Net Zero in a way that doesn’t hurt businesses or consumers… I’m very much in favor of using natural gas as a transition fuel. “On the issue of fracking, I think it depends on the local area and whether there is support in the local area for it. But I certainly think we should do everything we can to lower the cost of energy for consumers.” So does he think there is a serious case for lifting the ban and letting local residents decide if fracking happens in their area? “Yes.”
