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Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt on Friday unveiled a four-point plan to turn around Britain’s economic fortunes, calling for optimism.Photo courtesy of UK Parliament Recording Studios/EPA-EFE
LONDON, Jan. 27 (UPI) — British Prime Minister jeremy hunt On Friday laid out his vision for restoring stability to an economy hit hard by the pandemic, the financial crisis and the international energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine.
Create a four-point planHunt stressed that tackling high inflation was his number one priority, prior to tax cuts, and urged people to reject the country’s creeping defeatism.
“The declinism about Britain is wrong. It has been wrong in the past – and it is wrong today,” Hunt said.
“Some of the pessimism is based on statistics that don’t tell the whole picture.”
Britain has the highest inflation rate yet the lowest growth rate in decades, latest figures show. Inflation last year was 9.2 percent, while the economy shrank 0.3 percent in the three months to November, The latest data Programs from the Office for National Statistics.
The Bank of England raised its benchmark interest rate — currently at 3.5 percent — nine times last year to stem soaring inflation.
But Hunt said the UK was doing as well as its neighbours, noting that since 2010 it had outperformed France, Japan and Italy in terms of economic growth.
Since 2016, the UK’s growth has kept pace with Germany’s, he added.
“Yes, we are not back to pre-pandemic levels of employment or output. But unemployment in an economy that contracted 20% in the midst of the pandemic remains near half-century lows,” Hunt said.
Other pillars of his blueprint to make Britain the most prosperous country in Europe are business, education and ubiquity. The latter refers to his plan to ensure that the entire country reaps the benefits of economic growth, not just the prosperous South.
Hunt said the Conservatives understood better than any other party the importance of low taxes in creating incentives and “fostering animal spirits” to stimulate economic growth.
“But another Conservative insight is that individuals and businesses take risks only when the government provides economic and financial stability.
“So the best tax cut right now is lower inflation.”
Hunt, a backbencher in parliament, was appointed in October with the explicit role of keeping outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss and her counterpart, Kwase Kwarteng, in line. The resulting economic crisis saved the country. Truss and Kwarteng’s economic plan centered on big tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy, sending government borrowing costs soaring and triggering a run on the pound.
The reversal of fortune comes just three months after Hunt suffered a crushing defeat in the Conservative leadership race, driven by boris johnson. Truss was elected party leader and became prime minister in September, only to be forced to resign after six weeks in office.
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