Rishi Sunak: Don’t let frustration with me hand Starmer a supermajority

We haven’t got everything right and it took tough decisions to stabilise the public finances (Picture: Getty)

Tomorrow, Metro readers will be casting their votes in one of the most important elections for a generation.  

The backdrop is unique. 

We are living in a more uncertain, unstable world than we’ve faced for decades. The next few years will be some of the most dangerous yet the most transformational our country has ever known. 

The opportunities are great, with Britain well placed to lead in sectors of the future life AI, life sciences and cyber, but the risks are high too.  

Bold action is needed to build a secure future, and so is a government with a clear plan. The Conservatives have a plan to cut your taxes, bolster our security and spread opportunity across the whole country. Labour have no plan, apart from raising the tax burden to the highest level in history. 

I understand the frustration with me and with the Conservatives. We have been through difficult times. Covid and then the spike in energy prices following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has made life tough for everyone. 

We haven’t got everything right and it took tough decisions to stabilise the public finances, but economic stability is returning. Inflation is back down to target at two percent, real wages have been rising for almost a year and the economy is growing again at the fastest rate in the G7.  

We have been able to start cutting taxes for working people, we will go further cutting National Insurance further, delivering a total tax cut of £1,350 a year for the average worker by 2027. 

We will abolish the main rate of National Insurance Contributions paid by the self-employed because our risk-taking entrepreneurs power the engine of our economy, and they deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money. 

Conservatives instinctively believe in the dream of homeownership, and we want to help as many people as possible make that dream a reality. So we will abolish Stamp Duty for first-time buyers up to £425,000 and create a new improved Help to Buy scheme to help more young people get on the housing ladder.  

We will help parents keep more money for their families by reforming child benefits and protect pensioners by stopping the new state pension being dragged into income tax for the first time in its history. Labour have failed to match any of these commitments because they have a £38.5 billion black hole to fill. 

We Conservatives will stand up for you (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

It is and always will be the Conservatives’ instinct to cut taxes – we know you can spend your own money better than the state can. The average earner in the UK now faces the lowest effective personal tax rate for 50 years. History shows, under Labour taxes are higher. 

A Keir Starmer Labour government would be no different – they would put up your taxes. 

Your car, your home, your pension – you name it, Labour would tax it.  

They are asking you to sign a blank cheque at this election because they won’t tell you which taxes you will raise. It’s not fair for Labour to expect the British people to pay more – I don’t think people can afford Labour’s tax rises. 

Labour will slash job opportunities too. 

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed Angela Rayner’s French-style labour laws could lead to wage cuts as businesses struggle to meet the increased costs.  

We have a plan to secure our borders and boost defence too. 

We will create a deterrent by getting flights off to Rwanda in July so that those coming here illegally know they simply cannot stay. 

Labour with a supermajority, unchecked power and no accountability would do irreversible damage to our country (Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Labour’s only idea to secure our borders is to negotiate a deal with the EU that would see us take more migrants not fewer. That’s the opposite of what Britain needs. 

And we will bolster our national security by raising defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP because our enemies will only be deterred if met with strength. Labour have refused to meet that commitment leaving us exposed on the world stage and weakened in the eyes of our allies. 

So the choice at this election is a clear one. Labour with a supermajority, unchecked power and no accountability would do irreversible damage to our country. 

The result is not a foregone conclusion; just 130,000 votes could make all the difference to our future. A vote for any other party is just a vote for Labour. 

We Conservatives will stand up for you, cut your taxes and make sure your voice is heard. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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