A group of Conservative MPs, including Sir Jake Berry, Sir Brandon Lewis, Rt Hon Liz Truss and Dame Priti Patel have signed a pledge to their constituents that notes they will never again vote for an increase in overall taxes.
The group of 32 Conservative MPs, including one Former Prime Minister, a Former Leader of the Conservative Party and 9 Former Cabinet Ministers have come together who want to see a new style of politics, and would like to get away from an ever increasing tax burden on their constituents and a belief in a need to grow the economy and allow people to keep more money in their own pockets.
The signatories to the pledge, including leaders of major groups in parliament including Brendan Clarke-Smith, Chair of the Blue Collar Conservatives, John Stevenson, Chair of the Northern Research Group and Vice-Chairman of the One Nation Group, Greg Smith, Chair of Conservative Way Forward and Danny Kruger, Chair of the New Conservatives have come together to go above party politics and make a pledge to the constituents in their area.
The pledge notes: I (insert MPs Name) pledge to the taxpayers of (constituency)and to the British People, that I will not vote for or support any new taxes that increase the overall tax burden. My pledge will protect the working people, families and businesses of our United Kingdom.
The pledges signatories so far are:
Sir Jake Berry, Sir Brandon Lewis, Rt Hon Liz Truss, Sir Jacob Rees Mogg, Dame Priti Patel, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Sir James Dudderidge, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Sir John Redwood, Danny Kruger, Greg Smith, Bill Wiggin, Brendan Clarke-Smith, John Stevenson, Damien Moore, Ben Bradley, David Jones, Karl McCartney, Col Bob Stewart, Lucy Allan, Craig Whittaker, Robert Courts, Craig Mackinley, Alun Cairns, Stephen McPartland, Henry Smith, Kevin Foster, Paul Bristow, Chris Green, Adam Holloway, Nick Fletcher, Jonathan Gullis and Marcus Fysh.
This is not an exhaustive list and MP’s across the house are invited to sign this pledge. This invitation also goes out to prospective parliamentary candidates, members of the devolved administrations as well as the House of Lords. This is a step towards looking at how politics could and should be done in a different way.
Conference is the last real time we will have a proper discussion about policy, before the next manifesto is written, which is why it has been decided to launch on the eve of Conservative Party Conference 2023.
Speaking about the pledge, Jake Berry said:
For too long, we have seen the flawed political idea of taxing the economy towards health. Whilst we know this does not work, it continues to happen. Now is the time to take a stand and to make clear that this should not happen any longer.
I believe in Britain and the British people; we must trust them to make decisions about their own lives.
I want to see a low tax, high growth economy, and this cannot happen with further tax increases when they are already at a 75-year high.
There is no such thing as government money, only taxpayers money. And together, we are making a statement to our constituents, such as mine in Rossendale and Darwen, that we will not vote for any tax rises that increase the tax burden, which takes more of their hard earned money out of their pockets.
Priti Patel MP said:
“In these challenging times, we must be ambitious, reforming and bold to cut the tax burden on hardworking families and businesses so they can keep more of what they earn to support themselves and create growth in the economy. The Conservatives are the party of low taxes and economic freedom and staying true to those values will help us win the next General Election.”
“Households and businesses face the highest tax burden in 70 years. State spending is now nearly £1.2 trillion, with over £1 trillion being raised in taxes. This level of spending, borrowing and taxation is unsustainable. The British people need a tax break – we need to trust people and businesses to keep more of what they earn and spend their money to support themselves and economic growth.”
“We cannot tax our way to growth and spend our way to prosperity. We need the ingenuity of enterprise to create growth, jobs and prosperity – and this can only happen if we ease the tax burden and give them the economic freedoms to succeed.”
