British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced on Sunday that “very difficult decisions” would come just days before the presentation of his budget, having already warned that taxes would rise in the face of the rising cost of living.
“There will be very difficult decisions. But we are a resilient country and frankly we have faced greater challenges in our history,” he told Sky News as Britain commemorates the victims of wars on Sunday.
Inflation in the UK is over 10% and due to rising energy prices, many UK households are struggling to pay their bills and fearing when they will have to turn on the heat.
Announced tax increase
“We’re all going to have to pay a bit more tax, I’m afraid,” he warned as he presented his budget on Thursday.
The appointment is eagerly awaited in the United Kingdom after the failure of the “mini-budget” presented by the government of Liz Truss in September, which had panicked the markets by announcing massive and unfunded tax cuts.
To calm the storm, Jeremy Hunt had been called to the Treasury and had already gone back on most of the measures announced. He was due to present a new budget plan on 3 October, but following the re-appointment of Rishi Sunak, who became Prime Minister, he felt it would be “prudent” to postpone the presentation to 17 November.
“We will ask everyone to make sacrifices. But I think in a fair society like we are in the UK, you have to recognize that you can’t ask too much of those on the lowest incomes, and I take that into account in the decisions I make,’ he wanted to reassure.
According to the British press, Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce a change in the income tax bracket to tax the wealthy more and introduce severe budget cuts in government.