The former minister said corporation tax must be cut to stop investment going overseas.
Tax cuts must be included in the upcoming Budget to stimulate economic growth, according to former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe.
She told GB News: “He (Jeremy Hunt) should certainly spend in the interest of future growth and I think what he should be spending is money on are tax cuts.
“Because without tax cuts, we can’t stimulate the economy and without stimulating the economy, growth is going to remain sluggish, and inflation is going to remain with us.
“We also need to become more competitive as a result of Brexit and take full advantage of Brexit.
In a discussion with Mark Dolan, she added: “I would say that he should reduce taxes both personal taxes and business taxes, and particularly abandon any plans to raise corporation tax which will simply drive investment out.
“We’ve already had some driven out to Ireland because the view is that this is not a business-friendly environment.
“He [Jeremy Hunt] should be prepared to do all those things. Now, I don’t think he should go mad.
“I don’t think he should produce a Liz Truss type budget. I don’t think he should go absolutely mad.
“But I think he should be guided by the principle that Britain will only thrive if it’s competitive and it won’t be competitive unless its tax levels are lower than its rivals.”
Asked if tax cuts could prove to be inflationary, she said: “No, I don’t believe that is the case because what tax cuts actually do is provide incentives to enterprise. They provide incentives for business.
“People could just simply spend the money other tax cuts generate, but also it enables them to stay within the inflation that there is at the moment now if you look at Margaret Thatcher, she cut taxes and cut inflation at the same time.”
Ms Widdecombe said she hoped there would be a U-turn on the planned rise in corporation tax: “This after all is simply not implementing a rise rather than cutting from the base that you are at now.
“It should be manageable but crucially if corporation tax goes up like that to the level that they’ve got in France, this country will not be competitive. We won’t attract inward investment.
“We won’t stimulate enterprise. We won’t do any of those things if we put business taxes up and I can’t understand why a Conservative government doesn’t understand that.”
She added: “If the rise goes ahead, or even if some of the rise goes ahead, it will make Britain less competitive.”
Source: GB News
