The wellbeing of the UK’s public finances affects all of us, in Wycombe and across the rest of the UK.
That is why the Government has focused on improving our economic circumstances, and why three of the five promises made by the Prime Minister when he entered office were related to the economy: halving inflation, reducing government debt, and growing the economy.
As a low-tax Conservative, I am always concerned with making sure tax rates are as low as possible. Since I became Wycombe’s MP in 2010, I have long made the case for lower taxes. Local people know how to spend their money better than centralised bureaucrats.
For these reasons, I was pleased to see the Government cut National Insurance from 12% to 10% in the Autumn Statement last year, which worked out as a £450 tax cut for the average worker earning £35,400.
As a result of action taken by this Conservative Government, inflation is significantly down, and our fiscal standings have greatly improved. These improvements allowed us to cut taxes in the Autumn Statement, and we are now in the position to cut taxes even further.
I was delighted to see the Government again reduce National Insurance in the Spring Budget from 10% to 8%. This means that we will have cut National Insurance by one-third in six months without increasing borrowing. The average worker will have £900 a year more in their pockets.
This is a big win for all “small c” conservatives.
At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor made several headline announcements to ensure that our economy grows further and that people have more of their own money in their pockets. These are:
Cutting taxes for working people: Cutting taxes for 27 million working people from April, by again cutting the main rate of National Insurance from 10% to 8%. Combined with the cut at the Autumn Statement, that is a tax cut of over £900 for the average worker earning £35,400 – giving the average earner the lowest effective personal tax rate since 1975.
Cut taxes for the self-employed: Cutting the main rate of Class 4 National Insurance Contributions from 9% to 6%. Combined with the tax cuts for the self-employed at the Autumn Statement, this is a tax cut of around £650 for an average self-employed person earning £28,000 a year.
Increasing child benefit support: Changes will support half a million families through raising the threshold of the High Income Child Benefit Charge by and halving the rate at which Child Benefit is withdrawn, benefiting some parents by an average of £1,260. By April 2026 we will also end the unfairness for single earner families.
Debt falling: With overall debt beginning to fall next year, the Office for Budget Responsibility have forecasted that we will meet our fiscal rule to have debt falling as a share of the economy.
Freezing alcohol duty: Preventing any increase to alcohol duty will alleviate pressure on our pubs and hospitality sector.
Freezing fuel duty: Maintaining the five pence cut to fuel duty and freeze rates for the fourteenth consecutive year, helping keep motoring costs down – a £3.1 billion tax cut for drivers.
Cutting Capital Gains Tax: Cutting Capital Gains Tax on residential property sales, encouraging those who want to sell their second homes and buy to lets to make more houses available for families.
Increasing VAT registration threshold: Increasing the VAT registration threshold for small businesses for the first time since 2017, raising it from £85,000 to £90,000, to allow small businesses more space to grow.
Increasing funding for the NHS: Supporting and reforming the NHS with £2.45 billion for next year and a new £3.4 billion productivity plan, saving money, freeing up clinicians’ time to focus on patients, and cut wait times.
The full Spring Budget can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html
