Responding to the Chancellor’s speech at Conservative Party Conference, John O’Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:
“The Chancellor was right to speak about the advantages of a low-tax, free market economy, but now he should follow up by cutting taxes for families and businesses across Britain.
“Whilst some savings in Government spending have been made, we are still spending tens of billions a year more than we can afford - much of it is wasted, too. The government must make the tough choices necessary to get the public finances in a good shape to deal with future challenges.”
On Help to Buy:
“Decades of damaging government policies have exacerbated the housing crisis, by restricting supply and driving up prices. Ever more regulations and restrictions are hampering Britain’s ability to build the homes that we desperately need, so rent has skyrocketed. That's left generations of younger voters wondering if they will ever own a home.
“Instead of spending billions of taxpayers’ money on something that will actually increase the cost of homeownership, the government should scrap stamp duty and liberalise the planning system. It really is quite simple - we need to build more houses.”
On more funding for rail infrastructure and HS2:
“HS2 is a costly mistake and it’s extortionate to expect taxpayers to pick up the increasingly big bill for it. A few hundred million for the improvement of Northern Rail infrastructure can hardly make up for squandering billions on an unnecessary vanity project. It should be scrapped immediately with some of the money reallocated to better infrastructure projects."
On wages:
“The cost of living in Britain has been steadily on the rise for years, and the biggest cost to families is tax. It is the lowest earners who pay the highest proportion of their income to the government through direct and indirect taxation. If the Chancellor is seeking to make life easier for families in Britain, he should cut taxes so that people can keep more of the money that they earn.