Hunt unveils plans for UK economy, rules out tax cuts

The chancellor Jeremy Hunt looked to rule out any imminent tax cuts on Friday, arguing that inflation needs to fall first.

In a speech to City executives, Hunt said he wanted to create an "enterprise culture built on low taxes, reward for risk, access to capital and smarter regulation", with Brexit an opportunity to create a "more innovation-friendly, and more growth-focused" economy.

He acknowledged that to create more new businesses, "firstly we need lower taxes", adding: "High taxes directly affect the incentives which determine decisions by entrepreneurs, investors or larger companies about whether to pursue their ambitions in Britain."

But despite that, Hunt looked to rule out any short-term reduction in the tax burden, arguing that economic and financial stability was the government’s priority. "The best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation," he said.

Hunt’s was talking at Bloomberg’s European headquarters, his first major speech since replacing Kwasi Kwarteng last autumn.

In a statement shortly after he was appointed, Hunt reversed nearly all of Kwarteng’s mini-budget, which included billions of unfunded tax cuts but no spending plans or economic forecasts and caused chaos across financial markets.

Hunt is due to present his own budget on 15 March.

In a statement released after the speech, Hunt said: "Our plan for this year remains to halve inflation, growth the economy and get debt falling. But all three are essential building blocks for much bigger ambitions for the years beyond.

"If anyone is thinking of starting or investing in an innovation or technology-centred business, I want them to do it in the UK."