Fuzzy Tax-Cut Plans Show Sunak Far From Ready for Early Election

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(Bloomberg) — Jeremy Hunt’s budget left his Conservative Party convinced the government is still some way off calling an election. There was little surprise, and the closest he came to pulling the proverbial rabbit from his hat — an idea to abolish a key payroll tax — triggered 48 hours of confusion. 

Government officials now expect another pre-election fiscal event later this year, when lower inflation and interest rate cuts could provide the Chancellor of the Exchequer with more headroom for further tax cuts. That could potentially include a cut to income tax, as some Sunak advisers have sought, and be combined with a manifesto setting out more detail on Hunt’s ambition to scrap national insurance contributions altogether.