Boris broadens tax cut calls
By politics.co.uk staff
The government should set Britain’s taxation system on a downward path, Boris Johnson has said.
Earlier this week the London mayor added his voice to calls for a fuel duty stabiliser, as high petrol prices collide with a further hike in fuel duty from this April under current plans.
Now Mr Johnson has demanded that personal tax rates be reduced in a bid to boost Britain’s economic competitiveness.
“Can we endlessly go on with a tax rate that is higher than not just America and Japan but also France, Germany and Italy?” he asked in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper.
“All these countries we’ve always beaten on tax.”
Particularly controversial is the 50p rate of income tax, introduced by Labour but not yet rolled back by Conservative chancellor George Osborne.
Mr Johnson said Labour had created a “miserable and anti-wealth creation” environment.
“It takes a real effort of political will to dispel that,” he added. “I hope very much that that is what George will do. That is the way forward and I know he thinks this.
“I understand about 50p tax politically but there has got to be a sense of where we are going and where we want to be as a country.”
Mr Johnson’s comments come as prime minister David Cameron tells the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that Britain’s first priority is to address “the spectre of massive foreign debts”.
The London mayor said positive changes which would help businesses could be introduced despite the coalition government’s austerity drive.
“I need to speak up for London and its interests. I think we need to set out a pretty clear direction of travel, a pro-enterprise direction of travel,” he said.
