The big winner from yesterday’s drama was Nadhim Zahawi. Just ten months ago he was a junior minister: now he holds the second most powerful position in government. The newly-appointed Chancellor has today done his first round of interviews, appearing across a range of outlets to outline his plans for the Treasury.
As Kate Andrews write elsewhere on Coffee House, a key faultline between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson was fiscal responsibility. The former was unwilling to support spending increases without corresponding tax hikes: the latter is keen to cut taxes without slashing spending. Zahawi has already signalled he will be less evangelical about these issues than Sunak, hinting on Sky News this morning that next year’s planned corporation tax rise could be shelved.
The tax is set to rise from its current rate of 19 per cent to 25 per cent from next April.
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