Rishi Sunak welcomes ‘good news’ on inflation on LBC general election phone-in – live | General election 2024
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Sunak says falling inflation is “very good news” and that economic stability could lead to Tory tax cuts
The LBC phone number with Rishi Sunak begins. Nick Ferrari presents.
Ferrari begins by asking about inflation figures.
Sunak says this is “very good news”. The government is sticking to its plans, he says. He restored economic stability. And as a result, he was able to start cutting taxes, he says.
Key events
Q: How can you tell your plan is working? People are still struggling with the cost of living.
Sunak says the most important thing he can do for the people is to keep cutting their taxes.
Q: How worried are you about wage inflation?
Sunak says it depends on whether wage growth is related to productivity growth. But he says productivity is growing, which is healthy.
Q: If the plan worked, why didn’t you wait a little longer until the election was called?
Sunak says he doesn’t see live politics like that. When he called the election, inflation effectively normalized.
At that point there was economic stability. It was time to think about the future.
He says Ferrari criticized him for not calling an election.
Q: You took money from Frank Hester, who made racist comments about Diane Abbott. This means that all Tory candidates are funded with racist money. How does this align with your commitment to integrity? And just saying he apologized won’t do.
Sunak says that what Hester said was offensive and unacceptable. He says that when someone apologizes, he thinks it should be accepted.
Caller says he doesn’t accept that. He says that if Hitler had apologized, it would not have been acceptable.
Sunak says he doesn’t think that’s a fair comparison.
Q: How can you dispute Conservatives made young people’s lives better?
Sunak says he has a lot to talk about but focuses on the houses. He says the Tories will scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers and keep the Help to Buy scheme to help them.
Q: Haven’t met some of your housing goals?
Sunak says it’s right to have a stretch goal. But the government has built 1 million homes, he says. And in the future, more will be built on brownfield sites and some EU laws blocking housing will be removed.
Q: You didn’t eliminate no-fault evictions?
Sunak says he’s sorry they didn’t get to do everything they wanted. Covid disrupted things for two years, he says.
The caller says Sunak is “lying through his teeth.” She says the Tories have been in power for a decade and a half and have done nothing to help tenants like her.
The next call is a 17-year-old asking why she has to do national service?
Sunak says volunteering can be very valuable. He says that people can learn how to contribute to society. He says his daughters are positive about the idea.
Sunak refuses to say Nigel Farage should never be readmitted to the Tory party in the future
Q: Would you be welcome Nigel Farage in the Conservative Party?
No, he says Sunak. He says he is running against Nigel Farage in the election.
Q: How about in the future?
Sunak says he is focused on winning the election.
Ferrari tries again. And Sunak he just says he’s focused on the election.
Ferrari asks what he thinks of the FT report that Tory MPs are focused on the next leadership contest. Sunak says he is only focused on the election.
Sunak says he will stay in parliament for another five years even if he loses the election
Sunak says he intends to serve another five years as an MP even if he loses the election.
Sunak downplays two prominent Labor-backing billionaires, says they ‘can afford Labour’s tax hike’
The first question comes from a woman asking how well he thinks the campaign is going.
Sunak says he’s energized and talks about his plans to cut taxes.
Caller says she is not in love with either party. She says she wants PIP, Personal Independence Payment, Disability Allowance. This will be reduced by the Tories, she says.
Sunak says the caller needn’t worry. People who need help will still get it.
But he says there is a huge increase in the welfare bill. This is not right. He wants to put it on a more sustainable footing.
Question: How many points out of 10 would you give your campaign?
Sunak says voters must decide on July 4.
Q: Two of Britain’s richest people have said they support it Labor, including a major donor. (This is a reference to John Cadwell and Jim Ratcliffe.)
Sunak says, as two of Britain’s richest people, “they can probably afford Labour’s tax hike”.
Sunak says falling inflation is “very good news” and that economic stability could lead to Tory tax cuts
The LBC phone number with Rishi Sunak begins. Nick Ferrari presents.
Ferrari begins by asking about inflation figures.
Sunak says this is “very good news”. The government is sticking to its plans, he says. He restored economic stability. And as a result, he was able to start cutting taxes, he says.
Andrew Sparrow
Good morning. I am Andrew Sparrowtaking over from Helen Sullivan.
James Murray, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, has just been interviewed on LBC. He was asked about the Daily Mail hit, setting out tax proposals in a submission to Tribune Labor MPs. He said these ideas were not party politics and Keir Starmer had nothing to do with them.
Politico UK takes its website to where Sunak could run if he loses: a $7.2 million beach house in Santa Monica.
The area is even home to an English-style pub and a few foreigners, one of whom wasn’t thrilled at the prospect – and another suggested that Sunak might have to buy his own pints:
James Stokes, an English expat who lives nearby, said he didn’t know Sunak owned a home in the area until a week ago, when he saw an Instagram feed about Sunak’s past. Initially hoping Sunak would bring much-needed diversity to the prime minister’s office, “he just let me down,” Stokes said.
“If it ends up moving here, I think it will be a bit of a target,” he said. “There’s a big expat community and I don’t think he’d get a very warm welcome here.” (“I don’t think many people here would buy him a pint,” said his friend Tom Walker, waving the pub.)
On that note, this is from me, Helen Sullivanthis morning. Andy Sparrow will be back with you shortly to bring you Sunak’s LBC interview – and the rest of the day’s political news.
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