The Rundown Podcast: Is Rishi Sunak "Playing Games" With The Cost Of Living Crisis?
2 min read
On this week's episode of The Rundown – Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, the Institute for Fiscal Studies' Paul Johnson and Conservative chair of the treasury select committee Mel Stride join Alain Tolhurst and Noa Hoffman to discuss how Rishi Sunak's Spring Statement has landed and whether he's the tax-cutting Chancellor he says he is.
Reeves has accused her opposite number of caring more about the next election and personal ambition than helping people through the cost of living crisis.
She said “it's all a bit of a game” for Sunak, after he announced he would cut income tax by 1p – but only by the end of this Parliament.
"He's thinking of the next election, and he's thinking of the next leadership election in his party,” Reeves argued.
"And his policies are geared around that rather than what's in the national interest. So he says he wants to cut taxes, but he is not cutting taxes now, when people need help and need more of their money in their pockets.
"He says 'we'll cut them in 2024', wow what a convenient date that is, because that will be just ahead of the next election.”
Looking ahead to the questions the Chancellor still faces, Alain caught up with Mel Stride, chairman of the powerful Treasury Select Committee, who are due to grill Sunak on his Sping Statement on Monday.
Stride hinted that a failure to do more for those least well off, or commit further expenditure to tackling the spiralling cost of energy, will be high on his list of priorities.
The Rundown is presented by Alain Tolhurst, and the editor is Laura Silver.
Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot.
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