“We promise not to raise the rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT. We not only want to freeze taxes but to cut them too.”
In an interview during the 2019 General Election campaign: “We do want to reduce the burden of taxation... Our instincts are to try to cut tax where we can, but only because we think that there are some taxes that you could obviously cut and see an increase in yields.
“The Treasury will sometimes contest this assertion. But it’s a very good point and one that was first made by the great Tunisian sage, Ibn Khaldun, in the 14th century.
“He observed that if you cut taxes on the olive harvest, or whatever it was in 14th-century Tunisia, that actually people grew more olives, and tax yields went up. It doesn’t apply in every case but he is making a valid point.”
In an interview in Aug 2019: “I’m a low-tax guy.”
In an interview after quitting as Chancellor in Feb 2020, in which he said he would have cut income tax if he had delivered the budget rather than Rishi Sunak: “I passionately believe that where you can afford it tax cuts are a good thing and now that we have a majority, we should be much more aggressive on the tax cuts for the long term... and go much further than our manifesto.”
In an interview in July 2021: “I am a low-tax Conservative”
In an interview in March 2020: “Having a lower tax, simpler, fairer, flatter tax system is something that can drive growth. As we contemplate a new future outside the European Union, where we have the freedom to do things differently, that provides, quite frankly, an exciting opportunity.
“I want to see, over time, lower rates of tax, because I just believe that it’s nice for people to be able to keep more of their own money. I think that’s good for them and I think that’s good for driving economic growth.”
At the budget in March 2021: “I know the British people don’t like tax rises. Nor do I.”