Britons are in line for more tax cuts with National Insurance within months, Jeremy Hunt has pledged

More tax cuts are in the works after Jeremy Hunt declared yesterday’s package a “start”.

The Chancellor paved the way for further relief in next spring’s Budget – possibly the last chance for vote-winning gifts before the election.

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“We have made a beginning,” he said. I don’t pretend and I never pretended that we’ll get there in one go.”

Yesterday’s Autumn Statement cut the rate of National Insurance, eased business taxes and reduced alcohol duty.

Mr Hunt claimed the measures were the biggest set of tax cuts since the 1980s and would help restart the faltering economy.

But many Tory MPs are pressuring him to take more stringent measures after economists warned that the overall tax burden was still reaching record highs.

Ministers face calls to slash the tax threshold to prevent millions of workers from paying higher rates.

This morning a grilled Mr Hunt said: “Yesterday I set out to reduce the tax burden, I never said we would get there in one go.

“But it is very important that for the first time, because the economy is stronger than people predicted, we are able to start.

“I could do a lot of things with the leeway I had, but fundamentally as a conservative I believe lower taxes is the way to grow the economy.”

He defended prioritizing tax cuts before injecting more money into cash-strapped public services.

And he acknowledged that taxes have increased in recent years to pay for billions of pounds of Covid measures such as furlough.

Mr Hunt rejected speculation that yesterday’s package was deliberately deployed to woo voters ahead of a possible election next year.

Eyebrows were raised when the Chancellor moved swiftly to implement the National Insurance cut on January 6 instead of the usual April.

Describing such speculation as “silly”, Mr Hunt told LBC: “I can confirm that I have had no discussions with the Prime Minister in relation to the election date.”

Widely expected cuts to income tax or inheritance tax could be in the spring budget.

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