UK: Jeremy Hunt says he will raise £32 billion more in tax, scale back government energy price cap

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said he plans to raise an additional £32 billion a year in tax while scaling back the energy price cap plans of the government. This comes amidst the backlash that Prime Minister Liz Truss has received for her economic plan.

Hunt announced the tax changes Monday that can see an additional £32 billion in tax per year. Among the changes that were listed by Hunt include an indefinite suspension to the tax cut plan that was set to fall in April next year under Truss’s original economic plan that triggered financial markets.

Hunt also said the large energy price cap by the government would only last until April next year, after which the government is expected to look for ways to assist the most low-income households.

Hunt also scrapped the cut in dividend tax, creating a new VAT-free shopping scheme, freezing alcohol duty rates, and new rules for people who are self-employed, all of which are under Truss’s original plans.

“Taken together with the decision not to cut corporation tax and restoring the top rate of income tax, the measures I’ve announced today will raise every year around £32 billion,” said Hunt, adding the plans to cut the rate of National Insurance, as well as the cut to the stamp duty tax on property purchases, will proceed.

Hunt was also pressed during a parliamentary debate on whether he would recommit to the government’s pledge to raise publicly-funded pensions by the highest of income, inflation, or 2.5 percent. Hunt said he could not commit.

“I’m very aware of how many vulnerable pensioners there are and the importance of the triple lock…but I’m not making any commitments on any individual policy areas,” said Hunt. “Every decision we take will be taken through the prism of what matters most to the most vulnerable.”

Hunt also said that the economic forecasts that the country’s economic watchdog OBR is set to publish by the end of the month that will show the government’s debt dropping as a proportion of income in response to a question by a lawmaker.