LONDON, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Former British finance minister
Sajid Javid said he would have cut income tax cut if he had not
resigned this month after a clash with Prime Minister Boris
Johnson.
Javid told The Times newspaper the centrepiece of next
month's budget would have been a cut from April in the basic
rate of income tax to 18 pence in the pound, from 20 pence, and
he had plans to reduce the basic rate to 15 pence from 2025.
In his first major interview since resigning in a clash with
Johnson over the role of his advisers, Javid urged Rishi Sunak,
not to tear up fiscal rules, which commit the government to
balance day-to-day spending within three years when his
successor delivers his first budget on March 11.
Javid said he would have paid for the income tax cuts partly
through cutting waste in government spending.
"I passionately believe that where you can afford it tax
cuts are a good thing and now that we have a majority, we should
be much more aggressive on the tax cuts for the long term,"
Javid said.
Javid said he had also planned to reduce stamp duty, would
have introduced a network of fast-charging stations for electric
vehicles and provided help for the five million adults lacking
basic literacy and numeracy skills to retrain.
Javid quit after losing a power struggle over who should
control Britain's economy. Javid said he resigned after he
refused the prime minister's demand to sack his own team of
advisers.
"In my mind it was black and white," he said. "Even if I had
entertained the idea for a second I would be absolutely
humiliated afterwards."
Sunak became finance minister after agreeing to the
conditions imposed by the prime minister.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill;
Editing by Alexander Smith)