Hunt Chooses Market Calm Over Tory Demands for Broader Tax Cuts

  • Chancellor says 27 million employees will benefit in plan
  • Also adopts Labour policies on energy tax, non-dom regime
Jeremy Hunt delivers his budget to parliament on March 6.Photographer: Maria Unger/UK Parliament
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Jeremy Hunt cut personal taxes for the second time in four months and signaled the UK’s ruling Conservative Party will campaign on a promise to go further, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer rolled out an election-year budget that was also carefully calibrated to avoid spooking investors.

In his long-awaited speech, Hunt announced another 2 percentage-point cut to the national insurance payroll tax, just as he did in November. Taken together, he said, 27 million employees will get an average tax cut of £900 ($1,145) a year and the effective personal tax rate would drop to the lowest since 1975.