attempt to quell their concerns, in a landmark speech on Thursday. In his address during the Mais lecture, an annual event at Bayes business school, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will say he intends to cut taxes “sustainably”, adding that only a market economy, driven by private sector spending, will enable the economy to maintain a sustainable growth.
“I firmly believe in lower taxes,” he will say, arguing that a government should take a backseat, unless it is capable of setting conditions which enable businesses and households to thrive. Over the recent months, Sunak cabinet colleagues to restrict public spending, including his refusal to allocate billions of pounds to maintain free Covid-19 testing, as requested by health secretary Sajid Javid.
The Mais lecture has often been used by chancellors in the past to outline their overarching doctrine. Back in 1984, then-chancellor Nigel Lawson used the event to set forth his belief that free markets and personal financial freedom ere the route to sustainable growth. Sunak is expected to echo these comments on Thursday, the Guardian reported.
“As a machine for innovation and growth the free market is positively correlated with almost everything we imagine is desirable for humanity: higher living standards, greater wellbeing, longer lives lived in greater leisure, freedom and peace,” he will say. “Capital. People. Ideas. Three priorities to deliver higher productivity, tied with one golden thread: that what government does is far less important than creating the conditions for private businesses and individuals to thrive.”
