The Chancellor has said it is “going to take time” to reduce the overall tax burden as he appeared to hint that further pre-election giveaways could be coming down the track.
Jeremy Hunt used the autumn statement on Wednesday to announce a national insurance cut worth £10 billion.
Yet despite the earnings bonus, millions of workers will face a squeeze on their finances with the tax burden still set to reach a record high.
In interviews after the fiscal event, Hunt said taxes had risen to pay for Covid-19 pandemic support and Government intervention to help the public through the spike in energy prices triggered by the war in Ukraine.
But the Chancellor said the UK economy had since “turned a corner”, a result he argued had provided him with the opportunity to “lighten the tax burden” with national insurance reductions and savings for businesses.
Reacting to the statement, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell shared his golden rule for events like these, and it doesn’t seem to bode well for Mr Hunt.
He said: “The louder the cheering on the day, the greater the disappointment by the weekend”, adding that this “hasn’t lasted until the weekend”.
Watch the clip in full below:
Related: Welfare reforms branded a ‘cynical attack on disability benefits’