In his first major interview since announcing his candidacy, Zahawi, the new chancellor, pledged to cut corporate tax, income tax and business rates, saying he would finance it by cutting the operating costs of government services. He said: “I think it is right that we do this exercise across government, it is an important exercise. It is right that we exercise fiscal discipline in public sector pay. “Why? Because if we do that, we can reduce inflation. That in itself reduces inflation.” Asked if he wanted to achieve that goal in every department, he said: “Well, that’s what I want to make sure we get to. that will give me the leeway to be able to achieve the tax cuts that I want to achieve.” The former education minister, who took over the finance ministry after Rishi Sunak resigned last week, also said he was being “bullied” over allegations about his financial affairs. With the decision late on Sunday by little-known Kent MP Rehman Chishti to also enter the fray, Truss’ entry, via a Telegraph article, swelled to 11 candidates hoping to succeed Boris Johnson. Much of the debate so far has centered around increasingly ambitious pledges to cut taxes, which Labor leader Keir Starmer dismissed as “a fantasy economy arms race”. In her Telegraph op-ed, Truss, the foreign secretary, wrote: “Under my leadership, I would start cutting taxes from day one to take immediate action to help people cope with the cost of living.” This will include reversing the rise in national insurance, introduced to pay for social care reforms, and cutting corporation tax. As with all Tory candidates who have promised tax cuts, Truss was vague about how it would be funded, suggesting it would come from economic growth, making the UK “a high-growth, high-productivity power”. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary and Truss backer, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that such tax cuts would require reductions in public spending, but declined to say how. “I’m not going to specify cuts right now because we have a leadership contest,” he said. “I’m sure that detail will be forthcoming as the leadership contest progresses.” Speaking to Sky, Zahawi said that as prime minister he would support a 9% pay award for teachers, but that his message to other public sector workers was: “I feel your pain, but we have to come together.” On tax cuts, Zahawi said “nothing is off the table”, citing ideas such as cutting income tax, revising business rates and scrapping a planned corporate tax increase, saying this could be funded by a 20% cut in the cost of the parts. Asked about reports about his financial and tax affairs, including that Downing Street was alerted by decency and ethics officials to a ‘flag’ of HM Revenue and Customs before he became chancellor, Zahawi said: “So, clearly they smeared me.” He added: “I have always declared my taxes. I paid my taxes in the UK. I will answer any questions HMRC have for me, but I will move on. I will commit today. That if I am prime minister, I think the right thing to do is to publish my accounts annually.” Other candidates already in the race include Sunak, who has ruled out immediate tax cuts. Jeremy Hunt, the former foreign secretary; the attorney general, Suella Braverman; the former minister Kemi Badenoch, who was endorsed on Sunday night by Michael Gove. Sajid Javid, the former health secretary; former defense secretary Penny Mordaunt; the transport secretary, Grant Shapps. and senior linebacker Tom Tugendhat. Chishti, the MP for Gillingham and Rainham, who became a junior minister for the first time last week after 12 years in the Commons, also joined. The 1922 Tory Committee will set the rules for the first part of the race, in which the field will be narrowed down to two finalists, chosen from among party members. The committee meets on Monday afternoon to finalize these. Amid concern about the number of candidates, candidates may need to have 25 or more nominations to even get on the MP ballot, up from eight when the race was last run in 2019, with hopes of narrowing the field to two in less than a week. Sky News said it will host the first televised debate between the candidates on July 18.
