Is that still conservative? Tories grapple with tax increases

DJeremy Hunt’s budget speech was “so diametrically opposed” to that of his predecessor that it felt like another party taking power, commented the Financial Times on Friday. This is also depressing many Tories, who have found truss in the failed government’s budget plan, which Hunt presented on Thursday, rather than in the new economic policy course, to which the markets reacted cautiously positively. Jacob Rees-Mogg, until recently Minister for Economic Affairs, criticized that Chancellor Hunt had opted for the “easy option” with the massive tax increases.

Of course, Hunt presented it differently when he defended his plans in interviews on Friday. In view of the multiple crises, there were “no easy solutions,” he said, emphasizing “that healthy finances are more important than low taxes.” He attacked his inner-party critics aggressively: “I would like to say to my conservative colleagues: There is nothing conservative about spending money that you don’t have. Nor is there anything conservative about not fighting inflation, and there is nothing conservative about shying away from tough decisions that get the economy back on track.”