Hunt: Everyone will have to pay more tax – Saudi Gazette

Hunt: Everyone will have to pay more tax – Saudi Gazette

LONDON — Everyone will have to pay more tax under plans due to be announced on Thursday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says.

Offering a message few ministers would risk saying out loud, Hunt told the BBC: “I’ve been explicit that taxes are going to go up.”

He confirmed he would be giving details about further help for those struggling with energy bills, but warned there had to be constraints on help.

Labour accused the Conservatives of making a “total mess” of the economy.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said Hunt was choosing to tax working people, while doing “little to close tax loopholes which mean some of the wealthiest don’t pay their fair share”.

Hunt was speaking to the BBC just days before he is due to deliver his tax and spending plans in Parliament as part of the Autumn Statement.

The BBC has been told the chancellor is set to announce spending cuts of about £35bn and plans to raise £20bn in tax.

It comes as the UK faces major economic challenges, with soaring living costs and a warning from the Bank of England that the country is facing its longest recession since records began.

It also follows the mini-Budget of former Prime Minister Liz Truss and her then