Whilst I am a Conservative MP, I am not a member of this Government. During the leadership contest, I backed Rishi Sunak and his priority was to provide help to those most vulnerable from increases in the costs of living. He had pledged to keep taxes at their current levels in order to ensure the public deficit to fund the cost of living support did not have such a drastic effect on our public finances. Once the economy was in a better state, tax cuts could then be put on the table. 

This pitch was not successful and the Government, now led by Prime Minister Liz Truss, has opted for more radical action, including large reductions in taxation. Some of this is tailored to basic rate taxpayers; some for those who earn much greater sums. The aim is to inject growth into the economy. This will have larger implications on public borrowing unless it delivers enough growth and a greater return in Treasury receipts. I hope this is successful, for all of our sakes, but it was obviously not an economic philosophy which I found attractive over the summer. 

Given my own differing philosophy, I think it is best for me to forward the Chancellor's rationale for what he has done in response to your own query and opinion. You will find this attached at the bottom on this section.

The Government has since announced (3 Oct) that it will not proceed with abolishing the 45% top rate of income tax. I had read that MPs would have personally benefited from the top rate being reduced from 45% to 40%. Our rate of pay is not within the 45% bracket, so this would not have been the case. MPs, however, are certainly benefiting from the reduction in National Insurance. Given, when I supported Rishi Sunak, I advocated it remaining at the increased level I voted for earlier this year, I hope this demonstrates that I have lobbied against this additional amount.

I have my own reservations over the fiscal intervention made on 23 September. I believe in fiscal responsibility and in ensuring that the Government of the day gears it's policies to ensure stable interest rates, low inflation and the reduction of the national debt and the cost to servicing it. Any reductions in taxation should, in my mind, come in to play only when these grounds for stability are in place. It should be noted that interest rates are rising, inflation was 9.9% in August 2022, the UK national debt was £2.4 trillion and the repayment cost to service this debt was £8.2bn (for just that one month). It is currently predicted that the annual cost to service our debt will be almost £90 billion given the increase in the deficit and the fact that the rate of repayment is itself linked to inflation. To put this into perspective, the annual English schools budget is £54 billion. 

The raft of unfunded tax cuts, delivered without any plan as to how these will be funded, beyond the hope that the economy grows, has caused market turbulence. The impact on the financial markets, has caused the Bank of England to have to intervene and, effectively, print money. This action may itself cause inflationary pressure. Inflation causes interest rates to increase. I would be aghast if the measures to help residents with energy bills is itself wiped out by higher costs of living from rising mortgages and household bills. I also would not approve if the Government seeks to fund these tax cuts by withdrawing increases to pensions and benefits which I voted for these earlier this year.