Press Release – Prime Minister’s Comments on Taxation – 30 March 1992

Below is the text of the Conservative Party Press Release on Mr Major’s comments on taxation. It was issued on Monday 30th March 1992, reference 665/92.

LOWER TAXES AND RECOVERY

Let me start by telling you something of our plans for this week. We are going to highlight some issues crucial to this election: the economic recovery; defence; international affairs; education; housing and mortgages; law and order; jobs and prices. We’ll be setting out how we intend to carry our reforms forward – and the challenges we face in Europe,” the Rt Hon John Major, Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, told a press conference at Conservative Central Office today.

I intend to concentrate on the sort of society I want to build at home, and how we intend to build up our influence abroad.

This morning we are going to focus on the two faces of tax. High Labour taxes – low Conservative taxes.

Low taxes are essential to a fair society and a successful economy.

Low taxes give people incentive. They leave people more to spend for themselves and their families. So they work harder. They get more satisfaction from what they do.

And what they do is to earn more for this country. More for themselves – more for others.

Low taxes encourage Britain’s talent to stay here and work here -and they encourage businesses to create jobs here. We want that enterprise.

We want those jobs.

Never has low tax been so vital to the health of the economy. Never would it be so wrong to increase tax.

Over the past 13 years, we’ve cut the top rate of tax – and we’ve got Britain’s basic rate down to 25p. That’s good. But we’ve got to do better.

We’ve got to bring the basic rate down further.

We’ve already started bringing it down to 20p. And we’ve done it in a new way – introducing tax cuts from the bottom up. Every taxpayer will benefit from the new 20p band. But taxpayers with the lowest incomes will benefit most.

That’s the way we mean to go on. Taking more and more taxpayers out of 25p tax by widening the band. This way, we can make progress – year by year – towards a 20p basic rate for all.

We’ll use some of the fruits of growth to finance extra public spending – as we have done this year, and are committed to do in the future. But we’ll let people enjoy that growth too. That’s the way to give everybody a better life in a richer country.

That is a balanced approach. That is my approach – the approach my Government will follow right through the next Parliament.”