British Conservative government announces tax cuts in election year

The British Conservative government announced today Wednesday (6). ParliamentA reduction of two percentage points Labor taxPolls Unfavorable to Party in Assembly Elections One Year

At the bi-annual budget update, the Economy Minister, Jeremy HuntA long-awaited reduction in national security (National Insurance) taxes in the United Kingdom has been announced in the House of Commons, costing the public coffers 10 billion pounds (R$62.8 billion).

In the latest budget released at the end of 2023, the Conservative government cut welfare taxes. This time, British workers could contribute 8% of their wages instead of 10%, saving an average of 450 pounds (R$2,800) a year.

Hunt announced that British economic growth will be 0.8% this year, slightly higher than expected, and that its evolution will continue in 2025.

“The economy is expected to grow by 0.8% this year and 1.9% next year,” the minister announced to British MPs, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which stands for Office of Budget Responsibility.

The OBR's previous estimate, published in November, was for growth of 0.7% this year and 1.4% next.

The economic measures are part of a desperate bid by the conservatives, who have been in power for 14 years, to change voting intentions for a legislative election scheduled for this year – without a specific date.

According to the latest polls in January, Labor leader Keir Starmer would have a thirteen to fifteen point lead over his rival, incumbent Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, if an election were held now.

Lowering taxes and implementing a plan to expel irregular immigrants to Rwanda are strategies conservatives are pinning their hopes on to reverse a clearly unfavorable trend in voting intentions.

The Conservative prime minister has made the controversial plan, which has been repeatedly challenged by the courts, a pillar of her policy to combat irregular immigration and hopes to push it ahead of the election to win more votes than Starmer.