Philip Hammond: No plans for big tax cuts after Brexit
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Philip Hammond has made clear the Government does not plan to undercut European rivals with swingeing tax cuts after Brexit.
Earlier this year the Chancellor suggested the UK could "be forced to change our economic model" if it was denied full access to the single market after leaving the EU.
That was widely interpreted as a threat to make sweeping tax cuts, with Labour claiming the Conservatives want Britain to become "an offshore tax haven" after Brexit.
One of the EU Parliament's top Brexit negotiators, Guy Verhofstadt, described such threats as a "counterproductive negotiating tactic".
But in an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, Mr Hammond said there were no plans for radical cuts or deregulation.
“The amount of tax we raise as a percentage of our GDP puts us right in the middle of the pack. We don’t want that to change, even after we’ve left the EU," he said.
"I often hear it said that the UK is considering participating in unfair competition in regulation and tax.
"That is neither our plan nor our vision for the future. I would expect us to remain a country with a social, economic and cultural model that is recognisably European."
