Sunak vows to cut taxes by £17bn and halve migration

Rishi Sunak drew comparisons with his predecessor Liz Truss and her disastrous mini-Budget as he unveiled a manifesto containing £17bn of tax cuts.

- DAVID MADDOX

The grand unveiling at the Silverstone Formula One racetrack was seen as a last chance for Mr Sunak to turn around his party's flagging fortunes in an election campaign that has been filled with missteps as the Tories remain stuck at around 20 points behind Labour.

It came on the same day as a YouGov poll showed that Reform UK is closing in on the Tories at just one point behind, with 17 per cent to the Conservatives’ 18 per cent. A Redfield and Wilton poll also revealed that Nigel Farage was ahead of Mr Sunak as “best leader of the opposition to a Labour government”, with 28 per cent against 27 per cent.

But Mr Sunak’s manifesto drew criticism from economists and was lampooned by Labour, whose analysis suggested it amounted to at least £71bn of “unfunded pledges”, including the £17bn of tax cuts. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed that this would add £4,800 to people’s mortgage payments, based on an interest-rate hike she said would be necessitated by the borrowing she claimed would be required to fund the Tory manifesto promises.

Meanwhile, Conservative MPs and candidates were frustrated over the failure to include a plan to either leave or reform the European Convention on Human Rights or to get rid of targeted levies such as inheritance tax. There are suggestions that an alternative Tory manifesto could be launched next week as a challenge to Mr Sunak.

However, many were pleased by the help for “White Van Man”, with the promise that 4 million self-employed people would be exempted from national insurance.

The new, controversial £4,800 figure relating to the increase to people’s mortgages over five years – which Labour conceded was based on the average mortgage rather than all mortgages – drew comparisons with the disputed claim made by the Tories that Labour would have to put up taxes by £2,000 per household as a result of its promises.