Prime minister Boris Johnson has spoken out against higher taxes and outlined several new housing policies in a wide-ranging speech which he used to reset his premiership and attempt to win over the British public.
Speaking in Blackpool, Johnson called the increasing tax burden on UK residents an “aberration” and insisted that it “must come down”.
Johnson said: “Sooner or later, and I would much rather it was sooner than later, that burden must come down.
“It is an aberration, the burden of tax, caused in no small part by the fiscal meteorite of Covid and it must come down because the answer to the current economic predicament is not more tax and more spending, the answer is economic growth.”
In what was his first policy speech since surviving Monday’s confidence vote, the PM stopped short of giving any specific details on how or when taxes could be cut, but he said that the government will reduce taxes when it is deemed a “sensible” time to do so.
According to The Telegraph, it has been speculated that one of the changes could see the basic rate of income tax reduced by two pence instead of the already announced one penny, in 2024.
The prime minister said: “I know, and I think everybody in this country knows that because of Covid we had a massive fiscal shock, and it was because of the strength of our economy that we were able to look after people and we still are.
“We just want to make sure that as we come out of it, we keep things strong, take sensible steps, but of course we, as I think I said at least a couple of times, we are strongly inclined to stimulate further growth, further productivity with tax cuts as and when they become sensible.”
Johnson indicated that more measures to address the cost-of-living crisis would be set out “over the next few weeks”, defiantly saying that although “global headwinds are strong, our engines our stronger” and insisting that the government was on the British people’s side.
The PM added: “While it's not going to be quick or easy, you can be confident that things will get better, that we will emerge from this a strong country with a healthy economy.”
Much of Johnson’s speech was focused on several new housing policies, which includes plans to allow Universal Credit recipients to put their benefits towards mortgages.
The prime minister also pledged to extend the right-to-buy scheme to give housing association tenants the ability to buy their homes, a move which he wants to fall “within existing spending plans”.
Council tenants have been able to buy their homes at discount rates since 1980, but under current regulations those who rent through housing associations cannot do so unless their property was previously owned by a local authority, and they were living in the property when it was council owned.
Johnson added that ministers are also considering discounting Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy ISA funds from Universal Credit eligibility rules, changing the current criteria which stipulates claimants must have savings below £16,000 including Lifetime ISAs.
Johnson hailed the housing policies as ones that would “help millions realise the dream of home ownership”, which for too long had been “receding into the distance” for many.
He said: “It will work for tenants, giving millions more the chance to own their own home, it will work for taxpayers, responsibly capped at a level that is fully paid for, affordable within our existing spending plans and with one-for-one replacement of each social housing policy sold.”
While Labour shadow levelling-up secretary Lisa Nandy welcomed the policies in principle, she warned that proper consideration of the finer details was lacking.
Nandy said: “In principle, it's a great idea to try to get more people the security of their own home, particularly people who find themselves in the benefits system. The problem is that, as always, the government has not thought through the detail.
“There's no sign that any of the lenders are on board with this.”
Meanwhile, homelessness charities are concerned that extending right-to-buy could place further strain on the UK housing supply and intensify the housing crisis.
Polly Neate, chief-executive of the Shelter charity, said that the move would “put our rapidly shrinking supply of social homes at even greater risk” and called the proposals “a dangerous gimmick”.
She added: “For decades the promise to replace every social home sold off through right-to-buy has flopped. If these plans progress, we will remain stuck in the same destructive cycle.”
But highlighting the outcomes of pilot schemes, levelling-up secretary Michael Gove said that the government had demonstrated that the policy was viable for nationwide rollout.
Gove also insisted that new social housing could be “instantly” provided to replace homes purchased under the revised scheme.
Elsewhere in the speech, Johnson appeared to renege on the 2019 Conservative election manifesto pledge of building 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s.
When asked to give a cast-iron guarantee that the target would be hit, the PM explained that he could not do so.
“I can't give you a cast iron guarantee that we are going to get to a number in a particular year,” Johnson said.
“What I can point you to is the record of delivery under Conservative governments and the way that we do it.”
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
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