Sunak reaffirms pledge to cut business taxes in the autumn

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has reaffirmed his commitment to cut taxes for business later in the year as the Government seeks to get back on track following Monday’s bruising Tory confidence vote in Boris Johnson.

In a speech to the Onward think tank, Mr Sunak said he would be bringing forward a range of measures in the autumn to incentivise investment, according to extracts released by the Treasury.

It follows criticism from groups such as the CBI and Federation of Small Businesses that his cost-of-living support package last month did not include any help for cash-strapped businesses.

In his address, Mr Sunak said that only by Government and the market working together to drive up productivity would it be possible to build a “sustainably high-growth, high-wage economy” in the UK.

“But we must be honest about the longstanding weaknesses hampering our ability to achieve that … specifically in investment, skills and innovation,” he said.

“The growth and productivity challenge is a shared problem. Government and the market need to crack it together.”

Mr Sunak said his plan for economic growth was based around three priorities – capital, people and ideas.

“So in the autumn we will be setting out a range of tax cuts and reforms to incentivise businesses to invest more, train more and innovate more,” he said.

“Because getting this right won’t just mean the ‘economy’ improves, but real places too.”