Leadership hopeful's vision for economy

RETURNING the benefits bill to pre-pandemic levels would free up enough money for a 2p income tax cut, Robert Jenrick said as he laid out his vision for Britain's economy.

In a wide-ranging speech yesterday, the Conservative leadership hopeful argued for a small-state, lower-regulation Britain, taking the Margaret Thatcher government has his example.

He told an audience in the upstairs room of a restaurant on Old Queen's Street, Westminster: "It's a simple agenda, rather than a big state that fails we need a small state that works." Along with sacking 100,000 civil servants, replacing "failed" universities with "apprenticeship hubs" and reforming the planning system to build more houses, Mr Jenrick argued for "responsible" tax cuts funded by getting more people back into work.