DAILY MAIL COMMENT: This self-harming tax rise shames the Chancellor
During the Tory leadership race in the summer, one candidate proposed a radical plan to turbocharge the economy: Slash corporation tax to 15 per cent.
‘We need to start up Britain,’ he said. ‘That means sending a signal that we’re going to be the most pro-business economy in the Western world.’
So what happened to this enthusiastic champion of enterprise? Well, Jeremy Hunt is now Chancellor – and he’s had a profoundly depressing change of heart.
Instead of encouraging businesses to thrive, he is punishing them by hiking corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent from April 1. Just as Britain desperately needs a growth spurt to thrust itself out of the economic doldrums, punishing companies this way is simply short-sighted.
As Lord Bilimoria, vice president of the Confederation of British Industry, rightly says: ‘How much more can business take?’
This paper understands Mr Hunt’s desire to reduce debt and repair our creaking public finances. But businesses will simply abandon high-tax Britain, which will threaten jobs and reduce tax receipts.
How shameful and self-harming that a Conservative government is happy to tax the most productive parts of the economy until the pips squeak.
End the Covid pain
IT IS always fascinating to get a glimpse behind the closed doors in the corridors of power during times of national crisis.
So the leak of Matt Hancock’s private WhatsApp exchanges with ministers, officials and scientists as Covid ran wild triggered a string of headlines yesterday.
The disclosure, which has enraged the former health secretary, offers an insight into when, how and why the Government made crucial choices during the pandemic.
One message is used to accuse Mr Hancock of ignoring scientific advice to test all people entering care homes in early 2020, a situation that contributed to thousands of deaths, which he denies.
Other messages suggest the Government blindly ‘followed the science’ – however questionable it was. But Mr Hancock’s communications still lack full context and so the public inquiry into the handling of Covid-19 is vital. Yet while other countries have wrapped up their investigations, Britain’s is moving at a glacial pace.
Announced almost two years ago, it has so far cost a colossal £85million of taxpayers’ money but has taken no evidence. Britain is still paying the price for lockdowns which inflicted unnecessary suffering.
Ministers and officials need holding to account, and we must learn lessons amid the threat of another pandemic. Those who endured so much pain during this nightmare deserve answers – and quickly.
Harry goes spare
Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Victimhood, are said to be livid that the King is evicting them from Frogmore Cottage. But why?
This is not an act of retribution, even if Charles is hurt by his son’s vitriolic attacks against the Royal Family. Nor is he stirring up a hornet’s nest before his Coronation.
The truth is, the pair have made clear they’ll not return from California. The King is simply getting on with the business of being monarch – and that involves making best use of all the royal residences.
- While the Home Office insists a new anti-spying law will not criminalise journalists who expose scandals, the Press has grave concerns it will do so. So we welcome minister Lord Sharpe placing on record in Parliament that bona fide journalists will not ‘fall within the scope’ of the National Security Bill. We trust the courts will heed his words should ever a government try to punish a journalist for publishing a story it doesn’t like.
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