One of the key dividing lines of the current Tory leadership contest concerns economic policy. The gap between the candidates is not actually very large, but of course political arguments often magnify small differences. And in this case there quite an important philosophical difference that could have significant consequences over the longer-term.
Broadly speaking, Rishi Sunak is the candidate of economic continuity – how could he be otherwise, given that until a couple of weeks ago he was in charge of economic policy as Chancellor of the Exchequer. His plans involve large tax rises. Even before inflation raced ahead of expectations his plans scheduled the total tax rate rising to its highest level since 1948. He says he does want to cut tax eventually, but as Chancellor we saw that he committed to high spending levels.
Inflation has flown way ahead of expectations since Sunak set his plans last October. At that time he was only expecting CPI inflation to reach 4.4
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