‘The lower the better’: Truss tells Tory conference corporation tax should be at 19 per cent
Corporation tax should be slashed to 19 per cent and “if we can get it lower the better”, Liz Truss has said.
The former Tory leader, who left office after just 49 days last year following a calamitous mini-budget which sent markets spiralling, called for action to “change the agenda” and prevent British businesses being a “cash cow” for government.
She said: “We need to unleash businesses across Britain. We need people to want to invest in our country. We need businesses to be able to expand, to grow, create new jobs and ideas.
“That’s why I’m calling on the Chancellor at the autumn statement to put corporation tax back down to 19 per cent. And frankly if we can get it lower, the better.”
Speaking at the ‘Great British Growth Rally’, at the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Manchester, the ex-PM tested a new slogan saying the Tories need to focus on “axing the tax, cutting the bills and building the homes.”
It came amid a contentious conference with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak under significant pressure to confirm if the multi-billion pound HS2 rail project would be built in full.
During her speech, Truss delivered some thinly veiled criticism of the Prime Minister, saying that “people need to hear Conservative arguments again” and said the current government had presided over the highest government spending since the 1970s.
Truss urged the government to enable tax cuts which would allow business to “keep more of those funds”.
Earlier in the day, Jeremy Hunt said there was “no shortcut” to low taxes.
Truss claimed businesses were fleeing the UK as a result of the tax burden, citing the decision from pharma giant AstraZeneca to set up shop in Ireland.