Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, faced criticism for a punctuation error during a speech in which he accused Labour of spreading ‘fake news’ about their economic plans. Instead of focusing on the content of his speech, many people were distracted by the misplaced capital ‘T’ in the slogan displayed on his backdrop and lectern: ‘Labour’s Tax rises’. Social media users pointed out the error, with one user commenting, “The thing that’s bugging me the most is the capital T in Tax and the small r in rises.” The Financial Times also highlighted the unusual use of capital letters in the slogan. When asked about the typography, Hunt dismissed the comments and stated that the focus should be on the substance of his speech.
The main topic of Hunt’s speech was an analysis of Labour’s spending plans conducted by civil servants at The Treasury. According to Hunt, the calculations revealed a significant financial ‘black hole’ that could only be addressed by increasing taxes, hence the slogan. Hunt vehemently rejected Labour’s claims that the Conservative Party’s plan to scrap national insurance would result in higher taxes for pensioners and a £46 billion funding gap. He described these claims as a myth and fake news, stating that it was disgraceful to scare pensioners with false information in an attempt to win the election.
In a recent speech, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Hunt, hinted at the possibility of tax cuts in the future. He acknowledged that he couldn’t guarantee a decrease in taxes if the Tories win the next general election, but stated that more tax cuts may be on the table in his autumn statement. This comes after the tax burden on Brits reached its highest level in seven decades due to the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine and the Covid pandemic. Hunt’s comments were met with criticism from Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves and the Labour party, who accused the Tories of having an unfunded tax plan. The Liberal Democrats also condemned the Conservative party for their unfair tax hikes.
