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Johnson and Sunak announce as large a tax hike in two years as Blair and Brown did in a decade

Johnson And Sunak Visit Brewery In South East London
Boris Johnson and of Rishi Sunak in happier times on a visit 'Fourpure Brewery' in Bermondsey . (Photo by Dan Kitwood-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

In just two years, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have announced the same amount of tax hikes as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown did in a decade, reveals fresh research published today.

The Conservative duo will swell the UK’s tax burden by around two per cent of GDP after national insurance and corporation hikes come into effect, according to calculations by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The announcements will increase Britain’s tax burden by £46bn in cash terms.

The current government’s push to end austerity and fund public services will expand the size of the state to levels last seen in the 1970s, while the tax burden will jump to its highest level since the 1950s.

Isaac Delestre, research economist at the IFS, said: “Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak may find a way to cut some taxes before the next election.” 

“But if we look just at their actions to date, they have announced as large a tax increase in two years as Mr Blair and Mr Brown did in ten,” he added.