JEREMY Hunt doubled down on no tax cuts this year despite the Bank of England’s less gloomy predictions on the state of the economy.
Even though the Old Lady suggested the worst of the doldrums were over, the Chancellor insisted there would be no U-turn on giveaways at next month’s Budget.
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Mr Hunt said he would be “resisting the urge right now to fund additional spending or tax cuts through borrowing”.
But Tory MPs warned the Bank’s change of heart meant it was time to ease the burden.
Iain Duncan Smith told The Sun: “My question is was the Bank over-pessimistic earlier? The backdrop to this was a lot of international interference in the UK’s economic situation. The axis of orthodoxy that exists around the world has been co-ordinated.
“Now it looks like the IMF was ludicrously pessimistic.”
He added: “We’ve got to get growth, if we don’t get growth before we enter the year of an election the public will have arrived at a very firm view by then.”
The Bank of England said yesterday tax rises and spending cuts would put a handbrake on growth — with the changes announced last autumn knocking 0.4 per cent off GDP in a few years.
