Rishi Sunak’s “short-sighted” and “stupid” economic policies are keeping Britain is a state of “Covid inertia”, one of the country’s most prominent businessmen has argued. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, billionaire entrepreneur Sir James Dyson argued that “growth has become a dirty word” during Mr Sunak’s tenure in Downing Street.
Sir James criticised the increasing tax on companies, claiming that the Conservatives believe “penalising the private sector is a free win at the ballot box”.
The billionaire also argued that the failure of ministers to get workers back to the office following the ending of Covid restrictions has “badly damaged the country’s self-belief and work ethic”.
Sir James added that “not too late for Britain to shake off its Covid inertia” but that ministers seem “intent on moving in the opposite direction” with regulations that stunt business growth.
It comes as battle lines are starting to be drawn among Tory MPs ahead of the budget on March 15.
Treasury insiders have said that no major tax cuts are due to be announced as Mr Sunak’s priority continues to be on halving inflation this year.
The Prime Minister is under pressure, however, to reduce the tax burden on individuals and businesses amid more positive signs that the UK could avoid the recession predicted by the Bank of England last year.
In November, the economy grew faster in November while official data showed that price rises slowed for the second successive month failing from 10.7 in November to 10.5 percent in December.
However, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week there were others critical of the British Government’s economic policies which reflected the concerns raised by Sir James.
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Ms Truss attended herself and the group met in the office of former communities secretary Simon Clarke.
Despite the dramatic implosion of Ms Truss’s premiership following the unraveling of her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s minibudget, the group appear determine to defend the former Prime Minister’s tax cutting principles.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, one former senior minister who attended the event said it was “a conversation about the importance of growth”.
