London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Hunt vows to be responsible with UK finances ahead of Budget

Hunt vows to be responsible with UK finances ahead of Budget

The Chancellor downplayed the prospect of major tax cuts despite pressure from Tory MPs.
Jeremy Hunt has said he makes “absolutely no apology” for being responsible with the public finances as he risked angering Tory MPs by downplaying the prospect of major tax cuts in Wednesday’s Budget.

The Chancellor has faced pressure from senior Conservatives, including Boris Johnson, for tax cuts in a bid to ignite the UK’s stalling economy, including pausing the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%.

Speaking on Sunday morning broadcast shows, Mr Hunt said: “Within the bounds of what is responsible, we will always look to reduce the tax burden.”

"There is a hard road to follow to get there, but we really can be one of the most prosperous countries"

He said he wanted the UK to have “the most competitive business taxes anywhere in the world” but stressed the need for companies to have “the stability that comes from being responsible”.
It was put to Mr Hunt, who

suggested cutting corporation tax from 25% to 15% during his Tory leadership pitch last year, that he was now running the economy like “Jeremy from accounts”.

He replied: “I think you have to wait and see what I say on Wednesday.

“But, you know, Jeremy the Chancellor will be responsible with public finances and I make absolutely no apology for that.”

Mr Hunt said there was “no easy fix” for young people struggling in the current economic environment, with home ownership having become more difficult since the Conservatives took power 13 years ago.

Young people want to see “that we have exciting plans to grow the economy”, the Chancellor insisted, adding: “That’s what I’ll be talking about on Wednesday: How are we going to overcome problems so that we can give hope for the future to young people?

“There is a hard road to follow to get there, but we really can be one of the most prosperous countries in Europe, if not the world.”


Mr Hunt has already set out a package of measures to boost workforce participation among the over-50s, the long-term sick and disabled, and benefits claimants.

It includes the axing of the system used to assess eligibility for sickness benefits, paying parents on universal credit childcare support upfront and increasing the amount they can claim by several hundred pounds.

Mr Hunt said: “The Brexit decision was a choice – the right choice, in my judgment – to say we shouldn’t fill those vacancies from unlimited migration.

“We need to break down the barriers that stop people here in the UK from working, whether that’s parents who have obstacles because of childcare costs, whether it’s older people who feel they need to retire earlier … whether it’s long-term sick who find there are barriers to working.”

He added that “this is a budget in which I will be systematically going through all the areas where there are barriers that stop people working who want to”.

The South West Surrey MP conceded the changes on childcare announced so far would not help parents who are not on Universal Credit.

“We would like to help everyone. It’s expensive to do it. You can’t always do everything at once,” he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
×