British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks at the launch of the Conservative Party’s general election manifesto at Silverstone Circuit in Towcester, England on June 11, 2024.
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LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has unveiled a list of Conservative Party officials election manifesto On Tuesday, assistance for first-time homebuyers was announced and more tax cuts were promised.
The pledges come as the Conservatives look set to suffer a crushing defeat at the July 4 general election by rival Labor and Sunak himself came under repeated attack during the campaign.
Sunak apologized for leaving France early last week to attend D-Day commemorations and was accused of misleading British voters by claiming Labor would raise taxes by 2,000 pounds ($2,547) per working family.
On Tuesday, he promised to cut National Insurance, the British tax on workers’ earnings, by a further 2p and reiterated plans to reinstate national service, which would force 18-year-olds to complete a 12-month community program or a year-long military training.
He also said the Conservatives would seek to cut immigration numbers by half and then “every year” and promised a “Help to Buy” scheme for first-time buyers during Britain’s housing crisis.
Both Sunak and Labor leader Keir Starmer have put economic growth, living costs and taxes at the forefront of their campaign messages. A victory for Labor would mark its first parliamentary majority in 14 years. Polls have Some time Labor had long believed it would win the general election after the Conservatives’ support plummeted following a series of scandals during former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s tenure.
The total tax cuts under the Conservative manifesto will gradually climb to £17.2 billion a year by 2029-30. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank, said in an initial response to the declaration that the plan was “allegedly funded by reducing projected welfare costs by £12bn”, among other strategies such as cracking down on tax avoidance.
IFS director Paul Johnson said: “These were clear giveaways, paid for by savings that were uncertain, unspecified and clearly without victims. Please forgive a degree of skepticism.” stated in the statement.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said the pledge left a number of issues without clear solutions, such as business rates and work apprenticeships.
“The manifesto fails to rise to the occasion… On a brighter note, the Conservatives remain firmly committed to tackling retail crime in their manifesto, promising tougher sentences for those who attack retail workers, ” she said in an emailed statement.
—CNBC’s Jenni Reid contributed to this article.
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