Rishi's tax cuts a matter of when, not if, says Shapps as he backs him for PM

13 July 2022, 10:15

Nick Ferrari attacks Shapps for claiming Sunak is a tax-slasher

Grant Shapps has told LBC that Rishi Sunak's tax cuts are a matter of when, not if, after he backed the former chancellor to become the next prime minister.

The Transport Secretary pulled out of the race to replace Boris Johnson on Tuesday after the 1922 Committee doubled the required number of nominations.

Instead, he has decided to back former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who he claimed would be a tax-cutting prime minister.

Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Mr Shapps said: "He [Rishi] says it's not a question of if we have tax cuts, it's a question of when.

"I liked that idea that you control inflation, you don't cut taxes and then add to inflation, you control inflation and then do further tax cuts, whilst making sure you bring the overall size of debt down.

"I think all those things are sensible, I think he's got a sensible plan, I think he's serious and credible, and that's why I'm backing Rishi for prime minister."

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He added that Mr Sunak, who appears to be the frontrunner in the leadership battle, has the "massive advantage" of being able to "walk into the job and get on with it on day one".

His claim that Mr Sunak would be a tax-cutting prime minister was torn apart by Nick, who said: "We live under the biggest tax take in 40 years, which obviously is not solely down to Rishi Sunak, but he was the man with the Red Box until a few weeks ago!"

Mr Shapps defended the former chancellor, and said that just last week Mr Sunak brought in the biggest personal taxation cut for "generations".

He added that we must "recognise we've gone through the worst pandemic for 100 years".

The former chancellor, who has clashed with other contenders for refusing to promise immediate tax cuts, told the Telegraph that his economic vision amounted to "common sense Thatcherism".

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"You have to earn what you spend," he said in his first campaign interview, insisting he would take a more responsible approach to tax cuts.

"We will cut taxes and we will do it responsibly. That's my economic approach. I would describe it as common sense Thatcherism. I believe that's what she would have done."

Mr Sunak is one of eight contenders to become Britain's next prime minister, competing against Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch, attorney general Suella Braverman, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who all secured the backing of at least 20 Tory MPs.

The candidates will now go forward to Wednesday's round of MPs' voting, when they will need to secure at least 30 supporters.

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The full backing of each candidate was not immediately revealed by Sir Graham Brady, the backbench 1922 Committee's chairman, who only stated if each politician had made it through.

Sajid Javid, the ex-health secretary whose resignation preceded an avalanche of departures from Government that brought down Boris Johnson, dropped out just before the announcement of who had made the first cut.

All candidates who secure the backing of 30 MPs each on Wednesday will then go through an exhaustive ballot process, with Conservative MPs voting repeatedly as the politician with the fewest backers is eliminated, whittling down the field until just two are left standing.

The winner between those two will be decided by the party's members.