Rishi Sunak told to call general election now as Budget flops with voters

06 March 2024 , 18:48

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RIshi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt visited a building supplies warehouse after the Budget (Image: PA)

The Tories have been told their time is up as Jeremy Hunt unveiled a Budget that will fail to put Britain back on track.

Keir Starmer demanded Rishi Sunak call a general election as he accused him of being “out of touch, out of ideas and nearly out of road”.

Mr Hunt, the Chancellor, announced he will take 2p off National Insurance next month in a last ditch bid to turn around the Conservative Party’s dismal poll ratings. A new tax on vaping will be introduced, while major changes will be made to child benefit.

But Mr Starmer dismissed it as “the last desperate act of a party that has failed”. He urged the PM to hold the election in May so voters can boot out the Tories after 14 years of failure.

The Labour leader accused the Government of “giving with one hand and taking even more with the other” in a “Tory tax con” as he claimed families will still be on average £870 worse off after the changes.

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And as economic forecasts were downgraded after the country was plunged into recession, Mr Starmer blasted Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt as “the Chuckle Brothers of decline”. “What is the point of a party that is out of touch, out of ideas and nearly out of road?” he asked. “Britain deserves better.”

Three quarters of people (74%) believe the Budget will not be enough to help them with the rising cost of living, according to a snap poll of 1,038 adults by Savanta.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said that despite the National Insurance cuts, the overall tax burden is still on course to rise to its highest level since 1948. Almost seven million people will be dragged into higher tax brackets as a result of the decision not to raise thresholds in line with inflation.

In a humiliating setback for Mr Hunt, the OBR said that it was downgrading its economic growth forecasts for four of the next five years.

Economists have warned the Budget giveaways can only be afforded if the public sector is hit by brutal cuts. Ministers have said they will not hold a Spending Review before the General Election, meaning they will avoid having to spell out where the axe will fall. The OBR said most Government departments face a 2.3% a year cut to their budgets from next year onwards.

The IPPR said that for every £1 spent on cutting National Insurance, 45p would go to the richest fifth of households with just 3p going to the poorest. To help pay for the tax cuts, Mr Hunt announced he was nicking Labour’s plan to end non-dom tax breaks for foreign earners and to extend the windfall tax on oil and gas giants.

But he faced an immediate backlash from his own party as Energy Minister Andrew Bowie branded the latter “deeply disappointing” just half an hour after it was announced.

The decision to reduce National Insurance comes after Mr Sunak broke a Tory election promise by hiking the levy to its highest ever level in 2022.

In the past decade, the Conservatives have promised higher wages, higher skills or higher growth in each of the 21 Budgets, Autumn Statements and Spring Statements, but have failed miserably to deliver.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “This will go down as the bottler’s Budget… From unfair tax hikes to an NHS on its knees, it’s clear we urgently need a General Election now so voters can kick this out-of–touch government out of office.”