Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Economy/Tax.
Economy/Tax
Asked if he would agree with the Chancellor, in the light of today’s inflation figures, that the only thing keeping this Government afloat was the economy, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said he didn’t think the Chancellor had actually expressed that view - and to summarise the Government’s record in that way by mis-reporting a member of the Government was wrong. This Government had not only brought forward a platform of economic stability with low inflation, low interest rates and low unemployment, it was now also able to invest in our public services at unprecedented levels and to reform them around the individual. Of course, no one was pretending for a second that there wasn’t still a lot to do. This Government was facing big challenges, but it was getting on with dealing with them. He hoped that answered the question which was based on a false premise.
Asked if the Prime Minister recognised that people’s limits on taxation had been reached and whether he would therefore be loathe to see a Budget which would increase taxes again, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor would be loathe to have him briefing on a forthcoming Budget so he would decline the invitation to engage in a speculative discussion about what might or might not be included in it. Budgets were brought forward at the appropriate time and decisions were taken in the usual way. He apologised for giving such a monumentally dull answer, but he did not think journalists would be surprised. Asked if the Prime Minister had been looking to give any sort of signal or code in his Times interview about taxation, the PMOS said no. As his colleague had pointed out at yesterday’s briefing, the headline in the paper didn’t match the report, or the quotes, and was a mystery to us. Asked to characterise the Prime Minister’s attitude towards taxation policy, the PMOS said that the Government was taking great care to ensure that we had a competitive economy - one which was delivering rising living standards. He repeated that this country was experiencing the lowest interest rates for some considerable time, as well as low unemployment and low inflation levels. The Government would continue to take judgements in the round which would allow us to invest in our public services at the same time as ensuring that our economy remained competitive.
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