Labour and Plaid reject calls for tax cuts to boost economy

THE Conservatives have called for tax cuts to boost the Welsh economy, but Labour ministers warned the “unfunded” plan would blow a £669m hole in the budget.

- CHRIS HAINES

Samuel Kurtz, the Conservative shadow economy secretary, called for a lp cut to the basic rate of income tax and the scrapping of business rates for small businesses.

He said: “Families here are taking home smaller pay packets than their counterparts in England or Scotland. Businesses are struggling under the heaviest business rates in Britain.

“Young people see fewer opportunities to build a career and too often feel forced to leave the communities where they grew up.”

Mr Kurtz warned the Welsh and UK economies are “stuck in the mud’, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves “poised to raid pension pots” in the budget on November 26.

‘The ex-journalist said cutting the basic rate of income tax by lp to 19% in Wales would give 1.7 million people a tax break and leave the average working family £450 a year better off.