Mini-budget tax changes not right, says Michael Gove

Senior Tory Michael Gove has suggested he would not vote for Liz Truss’s Budget when it comes to Parliament, saying “I don’t believe it’s right.”

The former cabinet minister said the PM’s decision to cut the 45p tax rate was “a display of the wrong values”.

He also argued that using borrowed money to fund tax cuts was “not Conservative”.

Ms Truss has said she stands by her tax-cutting package arguing it would boost growth.

However, speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, the prime minister acknowledged she could have “laid the ground better” before announcing the changes.

Last month’s mini-budget, which included the surprise announcement that the tax rate for the highest earners would be cut, triggered turmoil in the markets and concern among some Conservative MPs.

Talking to Sky News, Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry warned that Tory MPs who vote against the prime minister’s tax measures would be kicked out of the parliamentary party – known as losing the whip.

A parliamentary vote on the plans is not likely to take place until next Spring, although there is also the possibility it could happen in November.

He urged Conservatives to back the prime minister, adding: “I’m sure that if we do that it will lead ultimately to long-term electoral success.”

However, Mr Gove – who supported Ms Truss’s rival Rishi Sunak in the Conservative leadership contest – has hinted he may not support the measures in Parliament.

The veteran minister, who was levelling up secretary for former PM Boris Johnson, welcomed the prime minister’s acknowledgement that she had made mistakes in communicating her economic measures – but he was also critical of the substance of her policies.

Mr Gove said there were “two major” problems with the prime minister’s plans.

“The first is the sheer risk of using borrowed money to fund tax cuts – that’s not Conservative,” he said.

The second, he argued, was to cut the top rate of income tax and scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses “at a time when people are suffering”.

He is the most senior Conservative MP to date who has criticised Ms Truss’s tax policies.

Last week some fellow Tories expressed concern including Robert Largan who said cutting the 45p tax rate was a “mistake”, while Sir Charles Walker said the mini-Budget looked like “some numbers written down on the back of a fag packet”.

Responding to Mr Berry’s threat that Conservatives who vote against Ms Truss’s tax measures would lose the party whip, Julian Smith – a former chief whip – tweeted: “The first job of an MP is to act in the interest of their constituents and in the national interest.

“We cannot clap for carers one month and cut tax for millionaires months later.”

Elsewhere, another former cabinet minister has criticised Ms Truss for saying the decision to scrap the 45p tax rate was made by the Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

Ex-Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted: “One of Boris Johnson’s faults was that he could sometimes be too loyal and he got that.

“However, there is a balance and throwing your chancellor under a bus on the first day of conference really isn’t it.”